Witness Testimony

Elizabeth Galvin testified that her 20-year-old daughter, Danielle, died by suicide in January 2022 following nearly two years of disrupted education, isolation, and repeated lockdowns. She described how Danielle’s final year of high school in 2020 was abruptly ended with virtual learning, cancelled graduation events, and limited employment opportunities. Danielle chose the University of Guelph partly because it initially indicated residences would be open, but shortly after acceptance the university reversed that decision, resulting in a restricted and largely virtual first-year experience.
Galvin testified that residence life was highly limited, with minimal social interaction, closed facilities, and predominantly self-directed online instruction. In November 2020, Danielle attempted suicide and was hospitalized; Galvin stated she was denied entry to the hospital due to COVID restrictions and was unable to advocate for her daughter’s care. Danielle was released within 72 hours despite being assessed as a danger to herself. Galvin described ongoing isolation, campus enforcement actions including fines for small gatherings, difficulty forming peer connections, and persistent uncertainty about further closures.
In January 2022, after another government lockdown and campus shutdown despite student vaccination requirements, Danielle was again learning virtually when she died by suicide. Galvin cited data she had reviewed indicating increases in eating disorders, suicidal ideation, opioid deaths, and parental depression during the pandemic. She concluded that prolonged school closures and lockdown policies harmed youth mental health and called for reforms including hospital visitation protections, limits on unelected public health authority, education service guarantees for students, and protection against extended school shutdowns for healthy young people.