The College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS) is claiming that nurse Leah McInnes was guilty of “professional misconduct” for joining peaceful protests against expected and existing vaccine mandates and passports during the pandemic.
She is being represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), who says that she is being accused of making posts on social media and statements to the media about her opposition to vaccine policies. In the posts, she gave her opinion about vaccine mandates as well as privacy in healthcare, and the CRNS objects to them.
The CRNS also noted that the comments were related strictly to Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 vaccine policies but that there were no mandates there. As a result, they feel her statements were “misinformation” and “disinformation” and that she abused her power as a nurse.
The JCCF said that she should be free “to express her opinions regarding vaccine mandates and vaccine passports and other related issues such as freedom of choice and medical privacy.” They added that government officials and medical authorities alike have often “referred to vaccine policies by government and other entities as “mandates,” in Saskatchewan and across the country.”
Although health officials in Saskatchewan did not implement express COVID-19 vaccine mandates for the province’s healthcare workers, they did strongly recommend getting them.
McInnes is currently facing a four-day tribunal. The CRNS offered a deal that would see her admitting to professional misconduct, but she declined and chose to defend her right to voice her opinions. If she is found guilty, her nursing license could be suspended or pulled altogether.
Canadian medical professionals often accused of professional misconduct when the government doesn’t like their opinion
The case is drawing comparisons to a similar one in Saskatchewan in 2020. On that occasion, a registered nurse from Prince Albert, Carolyn Strom, was found by a disciplinary committee to have committed professional misconduct by sharing concerns about the way a long-term care facility treated her grandfather, who has since passed away. She won an appeal before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, who said in a statement: "Such criticism, even by those delivering those services, does not necessarily undermine public confidence in healthcare workers or the healthcare system."
"Indeed, it can enhance confidence by demonstrating those with the greatest knowledge of this massive and opaque system, and who have the ability to effect change, are both prepared and permitted to speak and pursue positive change."
They added that the very notion of public confidence in the healthcare system suffering due to criticism can inspire positive change.
The JCCF successfully defended an ER physician from Nova Scotia who was threatened with discipline after penning an opinion column published in the Chronicle Herald. They are also supporting the defense of a nurse from British Columbia who is facing disciplinary proceedings over her involvement with a Vancouver billboard display supporting Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling and her opinion that girls deserve to have safe bathrooms that cannot be accessed by biological males.
In April, the JCCF announced that accusations were withdrawn against a nurse who had been accused of unprofessional conduct after sharing her experiences giving patients the COVID-19 vaccine and discussing the vaccine injuries she witnessed. The nursing regulator complained that she gave honest answers to patients’ questions and discussed vaccine injuries that required calls to ambulances. Her lawyer, Keith Pridgen, helped resolve her case without any restrictions on her nursing license.
Pridgen said: “Canadian nurses deserve better than to be threatened with discipline for telling the truth to the public. Professional regulators must stop this nation-wide inquisition against doctors and nurses who simply choose to uphold their ethical obligations to obtain meaningful informed consent.”
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