ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED

The 809 pages of information acquired through a Freedom of Information request to the Town was sifted through to get a better understanding of what transpired with respect to the development of a policy as of September 27, 2021, requiring Town staff and new hires to show proof of vaccination, including an interest in determining what part, if any, did our Town Council play in this.

On September 16, 2021, the Town staff were sent a Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive requiring them to submit to a survey of their COVID vaccination status as well as determining their attitude towards receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. Town staff failing to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status by the end of day on September 24, 2021, were advised that such non-compliance “will result in discipline up to and including termination”, revealing the highly coercive nature of that survey. Furthermore, while a Cochrane Now article, “Town has no immediate plans to make vaccination mandatory for staff”, dated September 14, 2021, reported that the “Town CAO Mike Derricott says they are requiring staff to anonymously disclose their vaccination status”, the survey was in fact not anonymous. Given that the Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive, indicating that the survey would not be anonymous, was signed and approved by the town’s CAO (Chief Administrative Officer), Mike Derricott, a few days earlier on September 10, 2021 before that Cochrane Now interview on September 14, 2021, he should have known full well that his statement to Cochrane Now that the survey would be anonymous was untrue.

Noteworthy, and surprisingly, the members of Town Council, received an email, “Vaccination Disclosure Survey”, from CAO Mike Derricott on September 16, 2021 asking them as well to complete the survey at their earliest opportunity, clearly a case of ‘the tail wagging the dog’. There was no evidence of objections raised by our elected Town Council to this demand not only for themselves but also the Town’s staff, and as well, they apparently willingly submitted to the request to reveal their vaccination status, their private medical information. So, with respect to the interest in determining from this FOI what part, if any, our Town Council played in this, disappointingly, the answer appears to be that they compliantly went along with it.

ABSTRACT EXTENDED

As explained in Part 1, a Freedom of Information request to the Town for the period August 1, 2021 to the end of February 2022, generated 809 pages, an unexpected astonishing amount of information, which revealed that the search effort to extract the information of interest to me was so time consuming for Town staff because the Town Administration had consumed so much time and energy on health matters over which they have limited or no expertise, which provided limited, if any benefit, to the Town of Cochrane and its citizens.

The 809 pages of information were sifted through to get a better understanding of what transpired with respect to the development of a policy as of September 27, 2021, requiring Town staff and new hires to show proof of vaccination, including an interest in determining what part, if any, did our elected Town Council play in this.

The whole process of the Town Administration adopting a policy requiring its staff to show proof of vaccination began on September 9, 2021, when Tara Thibodeau, Manager, Human Resources, sent a Draft Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive, based off the city of Edmonton’s policy, to the Senior Leadership Team for their review.  The final Vaccine-Disclosure-Adminstrative-Directive-D976 was approved and signed off by the CAO, Mike Derricott on September 10, 2021. 

On September 16, 2021, the Town staff were sent the Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive D976 requiring them to submit to a survey of their COVID vaccination status as well as determining their attitude towards receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. Those failing to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status by the end of day on September 24, 2021, were advised that such non-compliance “will result in discipline up to and including termination”, revealing the highly coercive nature of that survey. Furthermore, while a Cochrane Now article, “Town has no immediate plans to make vaccination mandatory for staff”, dated September 14, 2021, reported that the “Town CAO Mike Derricott says they are requiring staff to anonymously disclose their vaccination status”, as per the Directive, the survey was in fact not anonymous. Given that the Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive, indicating that the survey would not be anonymous, was signed and approved by the town’s CAO (Chief Administrative Officer), Mike Derricott, a few days earlier on September 10, 2021 before that Cochrane Now interview on September 14, 2021, he should have known full well that his statement to Cochrane Now that the survey would be anonymous was untrue.

Noteworthy, and surprisingly, the members of Town Council, received an email, “Vaccination Disclosure Survey”, from CAO Mike Derricott on September 16, 2021 asking them as well to complete the survey at their earliest opportunity”, clearly a case of ‘the tail wagging the dog’. As there was no evidence of objections raised by our elected Town Council to this demand not only for themselves but also the Town’s staff, disappointingly, one can conclude that they willingly submitted to and supported the edict issued by the Town’s CAO, Mike Derricott and the rest of the Administration’s senior leadership team. One councillor, Morgan Nagel, who had the prior understanding that the survey would be anonymous, expressed concern to the CAO when he discovered that it would not be anonymous. However, he seemed satisfied when being told that only the CAO and Tara Thibodeau, the Manager of Human Resources (HR), would have access to the data from the survey, “so it will not be disclosed”. One suspects that all of the Town Councillors willingly submitted to the survey revealing their vaccination status, their private medical information. So, with respect to the interest in determining from this FOI what part, if any, our Town Council played in this, the answer appears to be that they compliantly went along with it.

Using the results from a survey of the staff’s vaccination status to “support future decision making” sounds like an odd way to determine policy. For example, if a small proportion of the staff had indicated that they were vaccinated and the vast majority had indicated that they were unwilling to be vaccinated, it is highly doubtful that a vaccine mandate policy would have been introduced thereby risking losing a large fraction of the Town’s employees. The end result of such compliance (94% and more being fully vaccinated) is an example of how submission of a majority to coercion leads to discrimination and a loss of liberty for all. 

On September 21, 2021, CAO Mike Derricott sent the Town Council a Staff-Update-September-21-2021 as a pdf attachment described as “our ongoing organizational response to the pandemic, in particular the recent changes to restrictions under the Public Health emergency” and advised Council that the survey revealed that “our organization is 94% vaccinated which is obviously a great place to be. Regardless we are taking a firm stance This impacts roughly 10 of our 200+ employees and we will be meeting with these individuals. We don’t intend to shout this from the rooftops, but it is not a secret”.  Clearly, Town Council was apprised of the actions, “firm stance”, to be taken by Derricott and the Town Administration and there was no evidence of anyone on Town Council voicing any opposition, once again showing a willing compliance of Town Council with the actions taken. As noted above, one expects that they willingly complied with providing information about their own private vaccination status as part of the survey initiated on September 14, 2021.  

That September 21, 2021 Staff Update advised the Town staff that starting September 27, 2021 employees would be required to provide proof of vaccination with double dose by October 25, or documentation of a medical exemption or proof of a privately paid negative PCR or rapid test within 72 hours of each shift. Failing to comply by October 25 would result in employment with the Town of Cochrane to “be evaluated”. Included in that update from the town’s top Administration was an admonition to “Choose Kindness” and yet coerces its employees to take the jab on threat of job loss. How caring! Furthermore, the Administration has had and may continue to have an Equity and Inclusion committee, but has no problem in discriminating against those who choose not to take the experimental gene therapy injection into their bodies!

According to a December 7, 2021 Staff Update, staff were encouraged to “choose kindness” around the vaccination status policy and invited to “use green/yellow/red pins to indicate (their) comfort level for in-person interactions”. Sent out as reminders on the protocols and systems in place “to reduce workplace transmission of COVID-19”. Despite the experimental jabs not able to prevent infection and transmission. 

In a December 13, 2021, CAO Mike Derricott suggested adding the word “& Culture” to a position described as Director, Organizational Strategy as he is “pretty big on being super overt about driving the culture forward”. Interesting that the CAO sees himself as some kind of social engineer to drive the culture of the Town’s Administration.

Several emails involved chasing people who had not completed the COVID Survey or had not submitted their COVID Documentation (vaccine record, accommodation, or negative test results). 

Shawn Polley, Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, and to a lesser extent Jared Wallace, Deputy Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, as part of the town’s Emergency Coordination Centre was quite involved in the development of the COVID-19 policies introduced by the Town’s CAO and Senior Leadership Team. 

The Town Administration was the recipient of regular press releases related to COVID-19 from the Government of Alberta. One suspects that municipalities at all levels were recipients of such regular government updates intended to influence the attitudes and decision-making in those jurisdictions. Thus, at one time the town’s job postings (still mentioned at the town’s HR page on the town’s web site) mentioned that “The Town of Cochrane adheres to guidelines set by the Province of Alberta in response to the COVID-19 pandemic”, to supposedly support its proof of vaccination policy, seemingly taking its cue from whatever nudgings were received from the Alberta government press releases. As well, there apparently were weekly or regular CMOH (Chief Medical Officer of Health) calls with municipal officials to share new information and answer questions, showing how closely municipal officials were tied to direction from AHS and the Provincial Government. As Shawn Polley, Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, wrote in a September 22, 2021 email, “We will continue to focus on the intent of what the province is attempting to do”

There were consultations among various small and medium-sized municipal governments during this time period. An email sent to representatives of approximately 20 mid-sized Alberta municipalities such as Brooks, Camrose, Leduc, Red Deer, and Lethbridge, summarizing the results of a survey among the municipalities as of October 1, 2021 indicated that with respect to the question about mandatory vaccination for staff, eight municipalities, including the Town of Cochrane, indicated yes, seven said no, two indicated that they were leaning that way, and four provided no answer to that question as presumably was still under discussion.  

In a meeting with CAO Mike Derricott on February 18, 2022, a group of Cochrane residents concerned about the town’s proof of vaccination policy, asked why this was implemented as neither Alberta Health Services (AHS) nor the Province of Alberta mandated this requirement. Derricott, in turn, claimed that he “was following OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) guidelines rather that AHS”. However, in the 809 pages of the FOI information recovered, this was the only time that OHS was mentioned as a factor contributing to the decision making. Rather, as was found in the town’s job postings (and still found at the town’s HR page at the town’s website), one finds statements such as, “The Town of Cochrane adheres to guidelines set by the Province of Alberta in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Or as Shawn Polley, Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, wrote in a September 22, 2021 email, “We will continue to focus on the intent of what the province is attempting to do”. In an October 29, 2021 email Stacey Loe, General Manager, Legislative and Protective Services, wrote that they “were just following the recommendations of AHS” who “are the experts as far as vaccinations”. 

In that same meeting, CAO Mike Derricott claimed that “no one lost employment due to this mandate”. However, there were three situations, one on October 5, 2021, another on October 29, 2021, which included “Letter of Resignation” in the subject line of an email exchange, and a third situation where there is reference to a “Resignation Notice” in an email exchange on January 18, 2022, where it appears that some staff lost employment as a result of the town’s COVID-19 policies.  A November 9, 2021 letter sent to HR seems to be a letter from a candidate rejecting an offer of employment because of the vaccination requirement. On January 24, 2022, an unidentified (redacted) individual sent an email to the Town’s HR department advising withdrawal from further consideration of the position of Director, Organizational Strategy & Culture. Text blackened out (redacted) so not clear why that person had withdrawn, but suspect that it may be related to the town’s vaccination policy. 

It’s clear that all those involved in shaping the town’s COVID-19 policies bought into the notion that the experimental gene therapy injections were “safe and effective”, when it has become clear that there is no basis for such a perspective in that the jabs are neither safe, given an enormity of side effects including death, nor effective in that they neither protect one from contracting COVID-19 nor prevent transmission. 

Given that the actions of the ‘Town’, and here I mean both the Administration and the Town Council, to impose unwarranted, discriminatory Covid policies which were in violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, perhaps that explains the reluctance to post the Charter in the Council Chambers.

FULL REPORT

Summary of Information Gleaned from the FOI Request

Given the magnitude of the records pulled for this FOI request, 809 pages, a first pass review of this information took several days.  Contributing to a large part of this mountain of data were draft and final documents being circulated among staff making a reference to vaccination, draft and final job postings with reference to the vaccination requirement, demands to staff for submissions of responses to the vaccination survey, staff submissions of COVID-19 information to HR and, in turn, managerial staff pressing staff members who had not made such a submission, a recirculation of staff updates and the Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive, etc. 

Needless to say, there was a lot of chatter by the town Administration’s managerial class with respect to this topic. The goal of this FOI request, however, as pointed out in Part 1, was to get a better understanding of what transpired with respect to the development of a policy as of September 27, 2021, requiring Town staff and new hires to show proof of vaccination. Of interest, as well, was to determine what part, if any, did our Town Council play in this?

On August 23, 2021, in response to a query from Councillor Alex Reed, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Mike Derricott indicated that at that time the decision was “to only strongly recommend, but not require vaccination”. However, it wasn’t long before that position would be abandoned. 

On September 3, 2021, Stacey Loe, General Manager, Legislative and Protective Services, received a news release, “Further actions to protect health system from COVID-19”, from the Government of Alberta. That news release expressed alarm that the hospital system may become over-whelmed, identified the unvaccinated as contributing to such a situation “placing a heavy load on our health-care system”, and continuing the mantra that “vaccines are safe, effective”- “a real game changer”. As an additional incentive to take the jab, the Alberta government announced that Albertans who received two doses of the vaccine would be eligible for the “remaining $1-million draw for the Open for Summer lottery”

On September 3, 2021, the Executive Assistant to the CAO sent an email to the Town Council advising them of the Alberta government’s alarming press release, “Further actions to protect health system from COVID-19”, and that Administration would be meeting on that day “to discuss impacts on our organization and go forward actions”, showing the influence of the Alberta government’s news releases.

On September 8, 2021, CAO Mike Derricott advised the Head of HR, Tara Thibodeau, and the Senior Leadership Team that the town was “starting with requiring disclosure of vaccination status”, which may lead them to conclude “why try to solve a problem we may not have” (presuming by that he meant that not being vaccinated is a “problem”), and that such information on vaccination status was to “support future decision making”.  He indicated having “used the language of ‘strongly recommending’”, as in his August 23, 2021 email to Councillor Reed, although it wasn’t his favorite approach as he didn’t see a sufficient uptake at the provincial level, revealing that he had bought into the Alberta government’s ‘safe and effective’ narrative.  Blocks and blocks of text in that email were redacted (blackened out).

The whole process of the Town Administration adopting a policy requiring its staff to show proof of vaccination began on September 9, 2021, when Tara Thibodeau, Manager, Human Resources, sent a Draft Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive, based off the city of Edmonton’s policy, to the town’s Senior Leadership Team for their review.  

On September 14, 2021, CAO Mike Derricott was contacted by someone (redacted) from Cochrane Now saying he had heard from Mayor Genung that an “informal survey is being conducted to gauge how many staff members have been vaccinated against COVID-19” and was following up for more details. Hardly an “informal survey”, as suggested by the mayor, given, as discussed below, that it was not anonymous and failure to respond to the survey could lead to loss of employment with the Town!

On September 15, 2021, the Town’s Manager, Human Resources, Tara Thibodeau, working along with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), issued an email “Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive”, addressed to Town of Cochrane staff indicating that Human Resources would be implementing an Administrative Directive to take inventory of the COVID vaccination status of the town’s employees through a survey to be sent out to all staff the following day on September 16, 2021, with the CAO, the Director of Emergency Management and the HR Manager having access to the responses. According to the email,
“Council (emphasis added) and staff will be given the choice to respond with the following answers:
I have received 1 vaccination.
I have received 2 vaccinations.
I have not received any vaccination and I am planning/are scheduled to.
I have not received any vaccination and will not due to a protective Human Rights such as a medical or religious reason.
I have not received any vaccination and do not plan to.”
Section 2.2.2 of the Administrative Directive indicated that “the employee’s name” was to be part of the information collected.

A Cochrane Now article, “Town has no immediate plans to make vaccination mandatory for staff”, dated September 14, 2021, reporting that “Town CAO Mike Derricott says they are requiring staff to anonymously (emphasis added) disclose their vaccination status” is at odds with the above indicating that the names of the individuals responding to the survey would be known to the CAO, the Director of Emergency Management, and the HR Manager. By what authority did the managerial staff have the right to demand that their staff reveal their private medical information? Unfortunately, Cochrane Now did not follow-up with its investigative reporting to determine the outcome of that process.

That Vaccine-Disclosure-Adminstrative-Directive-D976, specifying the non-anonymous nature of the survey to determine the vaccination status of the Town’s employees, was signed by the CAO on September 10, 2021 and yet the CAO is reported to have said in that September 14th, 2021 article in Cochrane Now that the vaccination status information would be collected “anonymously”.

The Frequently Asked Questions portion of the Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive, approved by the town’s CAO Mike Derricott on September 10, 2021, indicated that staff failing to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status by end of day on September 24, 2021, “will result in discipline up to and including termination”, revealing that the request for such information was highly coercive given that failure to disclose one’s private medical information could have the severe consequence of termination of employment with the Town!

Given that the Town Council, as well, was expected to respond to the survey, talk about ‘the tail wagging the dog’. Would the Council members be facing termination if they didn’t participate in the survey? Disappointing that our elected representatives were so submissive to the edict issued by the Town’s CAO and Senior Leadership Team.

The data collected from the survey was to be used “to determine the controls the Town will pursue in support of a safe and healthy workplace in response to the COVID-19 pandemic”. What an odd approach to determine workplace policies. If the survey had determined that about half the staff were unwilling to be vaccinated, would the Administration’s management have gone ahead with a vaccine mandate? Highly unlikely. 

According to a September 15, 2021 email from Shawn Polley, Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, to Tara Thibodeau, copied to Jared Wallace, Deputy Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, he was in “full support” of the Vaccine Disclosure Administrative Directive.  

On September 15, 2021, Tara Thibodeau, Manager HR, received an Alberta government press release, “New vaccine requirements and COVID-19 measures in Alberta”, indicating new health measures to be implemented to expand capacity, increase vaccination rates and reduce transmission of COVID-19. Measures included, mandatory work from home measures, the introduction of a Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) or vaccine passport program, encouraging the population to get fully (double) vaccinated, claiming that “vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of severe outcomes and the risk of infection” and advising that “vaccines are the most powerful tool in the fight against COVID-19”.

A September 15, 2021 email, “New vaccine requirements and COVID-19 measures in Alberta”,  from Kristin Huybrecht, Manager, Intergovernmental Relations and Corporate Communications, to Strategic Thinking and Resolutions (STAR, consisting of the CAO, all Directors, and Managers, including the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief, the Capital Projects Engineer and Corporate Strategy Officer) advised that the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) was to meet the next day to discuss the Provincial government announcement and how it would impact the Town operations.

Tara Thibodeau in a September 16, 2021 email, “Vaccination Disclosure Survey”, to Town of Cochrane staff provided the staff with a link to an online disclosure form “for all staff and Council (emphasis added) regarding vaccination disclosure”. Also mentioned that the senior leadership team (SLT) and the Emergency Coordination Centre team were meeting to address the province’s announcement from the previous day. Parts 1 and 2 of the Town of Cochrane Vaccine Disclosure Form, using Survey Monkey, requested first and last names, respectively, and the last part, part 6, requested vaccine status and plans if not vaccinated. 

A September 16, 2021 email, “COVID vaccines and privacy issues”, by Tara Thibodeau sent to the Senior Leadership Team plus Shawn Polley included a note from a lawyer regarding vaccines and privacy issues from the law firm’s perspective. Five pages of legal opinion were redacted (blacked out). Lisa Almond, Director, Leadership & Culture, subsequently shared such information with Councillors Alex Reed and Susan Flowers as they apparently had requested such a legal perspective. 

In a September 16, 2021 email from CAO Derricott, “Vaccination Disclosure Survey”, addressed to Town Council he asked the Town Councillors to complete the survey at their earliest opportunity and that the information provided was to help Administration to “make informed decisions going forward”. Councillor Morgan Nagel subsequently sent an email to Derricott and the rest of Council noting that it was his understanding that the survey was to be completed “anonymously” and yet he noted the requirement to include first and last names on the survey form. Derricott, in turn, advised Councillor Nagel and the rest of Town Council that only he and Tara Thibodeau would have access to the data from the survey “so it will not be disclosed”. Nothing further from Councillor Nagel so presumably he was satisfied with that explanation, and presumably the Town Council willingly submitted their COVID vaccination status information.

On September 17, 2021, using the online submission form, I contacted the Town Council, expressing concern with respect to what I had read in that September 14, 2021 Cochrane Now article.  I wrote, “According to Cochrane Now the CAO has announced that the ‘Town’ has no immediate plans to make a vaccination mandatory for staff’. No immediate plans? Alarming that such medical tyranny is even being considered by the Town’s CAO. Do our elected officials have no say on the matter?” As I have come to expect, I did not receive a reply to my enquiry from any member of Town Council. As far as our elected officials having a say on the matter, there is no indication that they voiced any objection to the COVID-19 procedures rolled out by CAO and the Administration’s Senior Leadership Team.

In a September 17, 2021 email, “Draft social media message and internal staff message”, from Kristin Huybrecht, Manager, Intergovernmental Relations and Corporate Communications, to Shawn Polley, Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, Lisa Almond, Mike Derricott and Tara Thibodeau, she reported that at that time 85% of staff had completed the survey and 90% of staff indicated that they were fully vaccinated, expressing the view that they thereby were “fortunate to work in such a safe workplace”.

In a September 20, 2021 email Lynn Stevenson, Executive Assistant to the CAO, Town of Okotoks sent out an invite to officials of various towns and mid-sized cities, including Cochrane, regarding a Microsoft Teams Meeting to be held on September 23 related to Mandatory Workplace Vaccinations in MCC’s (Municipally Controlled Corporations).

On September 21, 2021, CAO Mike Derricott sent the Town Council a “Staff Update September 21, 2021”, as a pdf attachment, which he described as “our ongoing organizational response to the pandemic, in particular the recent changes to restrictions under the Public Health emergency” and advised Council that the survey revealed that “our organization is 94% vaccinated which is obviously a great place to be. Regardless we are taking a firm stance This impacts roughly 10 of our 200+ employees and we will be meeting with these individuals. We don’t intend to shout this from the rooftops, but it is not a secret”.  

The Staff-Update-September-21-2021 announced that responding to the Alberta government’s September 15th new health measures under a declared state of public health emergency, the town’s Senior Leadership Team along with the Emergency Coordination Centre team had decided where feasible to implement operating under the guidelines of the Restrictions Exemption Program (REP). Also announced that through the survey that Town staff and Council members were asked to complete it was determined that 94% of the town staff were fully vaccinated. As a result, “to ensure the safety of all Town staff and our residents”, it was decided that new health protocols would be implemented starting September 27, 2021. According to those health protocols, employees would be required to provide proof of vaccination with double dose by October 25, or documentation of a medical exemption or proof of a privately paid negative PCR or rapid test within 72 hours of each shift. Failing to comply by October 25 would result in employment with the Town of Cochrane to “be evaluated”, which presumably means termination of employment. All the documents were to be coordinated through and submitted to Human Resources. Masking was mandatory for all indoor places and vehicles (with more than one occupant), but could be removed at a workstation if employees were two meters apart or there was a physical barrier in place.

On September 21, 2021 Greg Barsi, with the town, wrote to Tara Thibodeau, HR Manager, with a copy to Lisa Almond, Director, Leadership & Culture, expressing concern re contractors requiring proof of vaccination, especially if emergency service repairs were required? Blocked out (redacted) portions. 

On September 21, 2021, Shawn Polley, Town of Cochrane Fire Chief, advised Tara Thibodeau, Manager, HR, that her Staff Update was “fantastic messaging”. 

On September 22, 2021, Thibodeau sent an email, “Vaccination Coverage Questions”, to a benefits consultant, seeking help in responding to an employee having asked, “What coverage does our benefit package provide for severe reactions to the vaccine?”

On September 22, 2021, Thibodeau wrote an email, “Staff Update September 21, 2021”, to an unidentified employee (name redacted) explaining that “there is no ‘vaccine exclusion’ with Canada Life and, in the view of Canada Life, “Government approved COVID-19 vaccinations are tested to make sure they’re safe and effective”. Safe and effective, what a lie.

Shawn Polley in a September 22, 2021 email, “2021 Municipal Election”, to Jaylene Knight, copies to Stacey Loe and Tara Thibodeau, with respect to election workers needing to show proof of vaccination, wrote, “We will continue to focus on the intent of what the province is attempting to do”. Although it was not included in the advertisement for election workers, he suggested, saying, “due to the recent announcements made by the province, all Town of Cochrane election workers must show proof of vaccination or provide documentation of medical exemption and proof of privately paid negative PCR or rapid test within 24 hours of each shift.” 

September 23, 2021, email, “COVID Records Submission”, from Tara Thibodeau to Town of Cochrane staff advising staff that because of new requirements to produce vaccination records or a negative COVID test beginning on Monday, September 27, such documentation is to be sent to the Town’s HR department. All managers will receive a list of their staff who have submitted their documentation and are cleared for on-site work on Sept. 27th.”

In a September 27th email, “Staff Update – September 21, 2021”, Tara Thibodeau replied to unidentified person or persons (redacted), possibly from someone on Town Council who had enquired of Thibodeau on September 22, 2021, “I am curious will the Proof of Vaccination or Proof of test apply to new council members and be listed as a requirement in new job postings for the town of Cochrane?”. Thibodeau answered, “Yes, this new approach will be applied through the recruitment process and new hires”, presumably meaning new Council members as well.

Discussing the wording for a job posting with a member of HR, on September 27, 2021 Thibodeau suggested that the following wording be included, “The Town of Cochrane adheres to guidelines set by the Province of Alberta in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic…As of September 27, 2021, the Town of Cochrane requires proof of vaccination or negative testing for candidates and employees.” 

On September 29, 2021, Thibodeau advised somebody (redacted) by email, “Vaccination process”, seeking clarification re a PCR test that “If you are not vaccinated, you will need to provide a negative test at your own cost within 72 hours preceding a shift”.

September 30, 2021, email, “September 17, Municipal Town Hall Questions and Answers”, from Ric McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs, forwarded by Mike Derricott to Thibodeau, Polley, and Parsons, with an attachment “Answers to Sept 17 TTH questions FINAL.pdf” providing answers to questions, primarily related to the Restrictions Exemption Program, that were raised at a September 17th, 2021 municipal town hall webinar. In that email, McIver wrote that “New temporary measures have been introduced in Alberta to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Alberta” and that the attachment would provide answers raised in the webinar. That attachment declared that “Vaccines are safe and parents are strongly encouraged to vaccinate their children”. One of the questions asked was, “Will there be a reinstatement of CMOH weekly calls with municipal officials?” To which the response was “the CMOH will be on calls with municipal officials as often as needed to share new information and answer questions” showing how closely tied municipal officials were tied to direction from AHS and the Provincial Government.  In response to a question why the government was insisting that young people should get vaccinated even though their risk is low, McIver answered “Getting vaccinated makes us all safer. A one-time incentive of $100 is available for Albertans 18+ who get their first or second dose between September 3 and October 14.” 

A September 30, 2021 email from the Deputy Minister for Municipal Affairs addressed to Chief Administrative Officers and received by Derricott provided a current frequently asked questions (FAQ) document. 

On September 30, Shawn Polley received a news release, “New vaccination policy for Alberta Public Servants” from the Alberta government indicating that the government of Alberta was implementing a proof of COVID-19 vaccination policy for all Alberta Public Service employees”, including a comment from Premier Jason Kenney indicating that “We know vaccines are the best way to keep everyone safe”. 

On October 1, 2021 Mike Derricott forwarded on to the Senior Leadership Team and Tara Thibodeau an email received from Lynn Stevenson, Executive Assistant for the Town of Okotoks, that was sent to representatives of approximately 20 mid-sized Alberta municipalities such as Brooks, Camrose, Leduc, Red Deer, and Lethbridge, summarizing the results of a REP (Restrictions Exemption Program) Vaccination Survey as of October 1. With respect to the question about mandatory vaccination for staff, 8 municipalities, including the Town of Cochrane, indicated yes, 7 said no, 2 indicated that they were leaning that way, and 4 provided no answer to that question as presumably still under discussion.  

In an October 4, 2021 email, “Proof of Vaccination Clarity”, from Drew Hyndman to Tara Thibodeau, he recommended that all records be destroyed after proof of Vaccination had been confirmed.

On October 5, 2021 in an email exchange among administration, including, Thibodeau, Almond and Hyndman, where the subject line and portions of the text were blacked out (redacted), the discussion indicated that someone reporting to Greg Barsi may have quit over the protocols, described as “not great news at all” by Almond.

In an October 7, 2021 email, “Staff vaccine policy”, sent by Kristin Huybrecht to Mike Derricott and Tara Thibodeau, she wondered about publicly sharing their staff vaccine requirements as some other municipalities had done. Nothing seemed to come of it. 

On October 13, 2021 Kristin Huybrecht, Manager, Intergovernmental Relations & Corporate Communications, forwarded on to Mike Derricott and Jeff Genung a provincial government news release, “App to scan COVID-19 vaccine QR codes now available”, she had received. Incudes a quote from Kenney saying, “I encourage every eligible Albertan to get more information and get vaccinated so we can reduce the spread of COVID-19 and alleviate the pressure on our health care system”. If Albertans had indeed become more informed by relying upon sources other than the AHS, the Alberta government and the mainstream media, they would have come to understand that the experimental gene therapy injection neither prevented one from contracting Covid nor spreading it to others. 

October 14, 2021 email from the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, providing Mike Derricott with current Municipal Affairs COVID-19 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) update.

On Oct. 22, 2021, Tara Thibodeau received an Alberta Government news release, “Full vaccination required for Restrictions Exemption Program, starting Oct. 25.”  That news release declared, “Evidence in Alberta shows that receiving two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine offers 90 to 91 per cent protection against COVID-19”. Such evidence, spouted by then Health Minister Jason Copping and Chief Medical Officer of Health, Deena Hinshaw, seemed to occur only in the minds of those creating this press release as it has become abundantly clear that the experimental injections neither protect one from getting COVID-19 nor from spreading it to others. 

On October 26, 2021, Tara Thibodeau sent an email, “Vaccine Record”, with a large, redacted section to Kelly Eatmon-Cole, Administrative Assistant, Human Resources. If that was indeed a vaccine record that was blacked out, so much for these records only to be seen by the HR Manager, Sara Thibodeau, and the CAO Mike Derricott.

A draft job posting sent out by Tara Thibodeau to a HR staff member on October 26, 2021 mentioned that “As of September 27, 2021, the Town of Cochrane requires proof of vaccination or negative testing for candidates and employees.”

On October 28, 2021 Tara Thibodeau sent an email, “Municipal Employees Working within RCMP Worksites”, to Stacey Loe, advising that “All municipal employees and contractors who access RCMP worksites will require to be fully vaccinated by November 15. Rapid testing is not an option.” Followed by pages of redacted text received from the RCMP.

On October 29, 2021, Tara Thibodeau sent an email, “Letter of resignation” to Greg Barsi, Manager, Facilities. One suspects that this resignation relates to the vaccine mandate policy as it was preceded by a October 25, 2021 email from Barsi to an unidentified individual (redacted) about “proof of vaccination”.

On October 29, 2021 Tara Thibodeau shared with her administrative assistant the vaccination status of one of the Town’s staff. So much for such information only to be seen by the CAO and Thibodeau. 

In response to some questions raised by a staff member, on October 29, 2021, Stacey Loe suggested to Tara Thibodeau not to answer the individual questions as they “were just following the recommendations of AHS” who “are the experts as far as vaccinations”. “The interest of the town is to ensure we are doing whatever we can to ensure the safety of all our staff and are basing our decisions on information and recommendations of AHS.” Thibodeau subsequently contacted the staff member on November 1, 2022 advising that “The town has followed and will continue to follow the guidance of the Province and Public Health officials. Your questions would best be answered by your health care provider.”

Many emails were incomprehensible because of blacked out (redacted) information.

On November 8, 2021 Morgan Nagel sent an email to the Town Council as well as CAO Mike Derricott asking, “Can I call into the meeting (Presumably Town Council meeting) tonight?” Derricott replied to Nagel that the REP program was not followed for regular meetings of council, but that “masking, distancing and would not require vaccination status confirmation at this time”. Indicated that he would want to verify such a position with Legislative services prior to stating this in the group. Again, a case of the tail (unelected town administration) wagging the dog (elected town councillors). 

On November 8, 2021, Derricott sent an email, “Vaccination status at Regular meetings”, to Jaylene Knight, Manager, Legislative Services, with copies to Stacey Loe and Katherine Van Keimpema advising that his “current understanding (was) that we are not verifying vaccination status/test results for attendance/participation at a regular meeting, but will continue to require masking, distancing, etc. This would include the gallery”. He asked for confirmation that such was a “shared understanding”.

A November 9, 2021 letter sent to HR seems to be a letter rejecting an offer of employment because of the vaccination requirement, specifically because that person “was never advised that the policy has changed, and I will no longer be able to provide rapid testing as an option…and only proof of 2 doses of the vaccine would be required”. 

In November, some discussion took place among administrative staff as to uncertainty whether contractors would be required to be fully vaccinated. 

From November 22 to November 23, 2021 an email “RE: IAFF Grievance” was circulated and discussed among the municipalities. IAFF presumably refers to International Association of Fire Fighters. Information was blacked out (redacted) so unable to determine the nature of the “grievance”. 

A December 3, 2021 letter from an administrator with the City of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta inquiring as to how Vaccination Exemption based on Religious Exemption was being handled by various municipalities including Cochrane suggests relatively broad support and coordination among municipalities to put in place a vaccine mandate. 

A December 6, 2021, email, “Start Date”, from Drew Hyndman, Executive Director, Development & Infrastructure Services, addressed to an individual (redacted), advised that “you will be required to provide your confirmation of vaccination…while in the building”. 

A Staff Update from Tara Thibodeau, Manager Human Resources, dated December 7, 2021, advised staff of the Covid protocols including that “Employees must provide Human Resources one of the options below:
1.     proof of full vaccination
2.     documentation of a medical exemption
3.     proof of a privately paid negative PCR within 72 hours of each shift.
Other protocols included “masking for all indoor places and vehicles” and physical distancing. At that time there was a reminder that remote work continues whereby there was to be a rotation between on-site and remote work with one-week intervals. Proof of vaccination or negative testing was required at all Town facilities for visitors, such as those attending meetings and contractors. Staff were encouraged to “choose kindness” around vaccination status and invited staff to “use green/yellow/red pins to indicate your comfort level for in-person interactions”. Sent out as reminders on the protocols and systems we have in place “to reduce workplace transmission of COVID-19”. Despite the experimental jabs not able to prevent infection and transmission. 

Draft job (Dec. 9, 2021) posting for Manager, Intergovernmental Relations & Corporate Communications included, “As of September 27, 2021, the Town of Cochrane requires proof of vaccination or negative testing for candidates and employees.

In a December 13, 2021, email from Mike Derricott to Tara Thibodeau, Manager, Human Relations, he suggested adding the word “& Culture” to a position described as Director, Organizational Strategy as he is “pretty big on being super overt about driving the culture forward”. Interesting that the CAO, Mike Derricott, sees himself as some kind of social engineer to drive the culture of the Town’s Administration.  Was town staff being allowed to take the day off with pay with respect to Trudeau’s Truth & Reconciliation Day and a Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, part of the cultural drive?

The draft job posting for a Director, Organizational Strategy position indicated that the successful candidate would “be the lead cultural champion of our organization. The town is experiencing a cultural evolution that travels through our Human Resources and Communications sections to the entire staff”. Presumably the inclusion of a Land Acknowledgement (In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta), to the end of current Cochrane job postings is part of that cultural evolution.  When it mentions that the “town is experiencing a cultural evolution”, uncertain as to the nature of that “cultural evolution” and what is meant by “town”. The Town Administration? The Town Council? The citizens of the town of Cochrane? Prior to the municipal elections on October 18, 2021, all the candidates for Cochrane Town Council were surveyed as to their position on three issues, one of which was “Do you consider it the responsibility of the Town of Cochrane, whether through its elected councillors or through its unelected Administration Staff, to ‘create social change’? Yes or No?”. Noteworthy that five out of seven of the current members of Town Council answered Yes to that question.

December 21, 2021, Jared Wallace, Deputy Fire Chief, sent an email, “Booster Dose”, to Fire Chief, Shawn A.C. Polley advising him of availability of a booster dose in town and claiming that “COVID-19 vaccines can prevent you from getting infected and protect you from getting severely sick if you do get it. All vaccines are safe, effective and save lives.” He asked Polley if that was something to send out to the staff and told, “please send out the opportunity to get boosters anytime, including when on duty”. Don’t know where this Deputy Fire Chief got the impression, apart from parroting the narrative in AHS and Government of Alberta press releases or has the qualifications to declare that these so-called vaccines, really experimental gene therapy injections were able to prevent you from getting infected and that they were “safe, effective”.

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Safe and Effective?

Such an attitude about the nature of the so-called vaccines as being “safe and effective”, was prevalent among the managerial staff in the town’s Administration and presumably among the members of Town Council. Unless one has been living under a rock or solely getting one’s information from the AHS and the Kenney government as well as the mainstream media, one would understand that these experimental gene therapy injections are neither “effective”, in that they neither protect one from getting Covid-19, nor do they prevent the transmission to others. So much for the argument that the Town’s vaccination policy was necessary to provide a “safe work environment”. Nor is there a basis to declare these experimental injections rolled out under emergency use authorization after limited testing for safety to be “safe”.

Some background to consider regarding these ‘vaccines’. The mRNA ‘vaccines’, really gene therapy, are wholly new types of vaccines that have never been tried before. They underwent limited testing, a matter of months, where normally these processes take 4-5 years to get full approval. They were rolled out under emergency use authorization by the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Accordingly, we have to still call them experimental ‘vaccines’ in phase three trials right now which won’t be concluded until the end of 2022. We don’t have the long-term data to determine how safe these vaccines are.

Those carrying such a perspective, of “safe and effective”, at odds with science and fundamental freedoms, are encouraged to break free of their bubble zone.  As far as viewing the jabs as being “safe”, they should familiarize themselves with VAERS, the Voluntary Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System that was established in the U.S. in 1990 as a passive monitoring early warning system of damage from vaccines to accept reports of adverse events after vaccination. The chart (below) shows the number of reported yearly deaths due to all vaccines over a period of 30 years.

The red bars show the deaths reported since the introduction of COVID ‘vaccines’ in 2021. represented by 21,987 deaths in 2021 and 11,994 deaths in 2022, As saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. There are more reported deaths for this ‘vaccine’ than the accumulated deaths for over 70 other vaccines evaluated over the previous 30 years. As of December 16, 2022, a total of 33,981 deaths have been reported to VAERS for COVID-19 ‘vaccines’, approximately four times greater than a total of 8,673 reported deaths for the preceding 30 years for all other vaccines. How can one look at such a chart and conclude that these rushed-out experimental Covid ‘vaccines’ are safe? Through December 16, 2022 a total of 1,484,971events have been reported since the introduction of the COCID ‘vaccines’. In addition to deaths, other adverse events reported include heart attacks, myocarditis/pericarditis, and miscarriages. According to a Harvard study only about 1% of the adverse events are actually reported as part of this voluntary system.

As far as being “effective”, again they are ‘leaky vaccines’ in that they neither prevent one from contracting COVID-19, nor do they prevent one from transmitting COVID-19. Those who are vaccinated are just as capable of transmitting COVID-19 as those who are not vaccinated. Anybody who had the virus was able to transmit it whether they were vaccinated or not. Given the ‘leaky’ nature of these ‘vaccines’, the CDC (Centre for Disease Control), which, like the FDA, has undergone regulatory capture by big pharma, quietly changed the definition of “vaccine”, replacing “immunity” with “protection”, to fit an unproven, ineffective and dangerous experimental medicine that those shaping the official narrative still insist on administering to true believers – and their children. So, the claimed justification of the Town’s COVID-19 policy as supposedly providing for a “safe work environment” goes up in smoke.

There have been several medical doctors who have spoken out expressing concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. They have done so facing censorship and attacks by the mainstream media as well having their colleges of physician and surgeons removing their license to practice or threatening to remove their license. All the doctors still practicing are choosing to go along with this or keep their mouths shut. The doctors speaking out at great cost are practicing physicians treating patients or conducting research unlike healthcare bureaucrats like Deena Hinshaw and Theresa Tam. Those who are willing to risk their careers to speak bare serious consideration as their sole motive is to speak the truth. Inviting grief and censure for speaking out is hardly a motivator.  Brave Canadian doctors who risked career and reputation to speak truth to medical power, like Roger Hodkinson, Charles Hoffe, Francis Christian, Byram Bridle, Mark Trozzi, and others, are probably virtual strangers to our town’s Administration.

Ontario doctor, Dr. Mark Trozzi has been extremely outspoken during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch a recent two-part interview of Dr. Trozzi here for part 1, where he talks about  how doctors have been treated by the College of Physicians for simply speaking truth., and here for part 2. Note that these video interviews were subsequently censored by YouTube as something that people should not be able to see. Such censoring of alternative points of view or criticism of the official narrative is a hallmark of totalitarian regimes.

Dr. Francis Christian, a renowned clinical professor of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan, was fired for speaking out against the COVID-19 narrative.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) has been holding roundtable discussions with experts and medical professionals on COVID-19’s vaccine efficacy and safety.  The discussions feature prominent doctors such as Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Pierre Kory, and Dr. Ryan Cole. 

At the latest meeting on December 7, 2022 titled “COVID-19 Vaccines: What They Are, How They Work and Possible Causes of Injuries”, Senator Johnson held a roundtable discussion with medical professionals and doctors such as Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Ryan Cole, Dr. Paul Alexander, Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Robert Malone and others who discussed new research findings and injurious effects of the COVID-19 shots. The enlightening full 3-hour roundtable discussion is available here.  Roundtable highlights, a recap of the three-hour discussion are available here.

Dr. Peter McCullough is one of the most published cardiologists ever in America, with over 1,000 publications. In this year-end interview he gives his overall assessment of what transpired with respect to COVID-19 over the last three years. In particular, he discusses safety concerns related to the COVID-19 vaccines and what the data reveals.  With respect to the COVID-19 vaccines, he concludes, “we have over 1200 peer-reviewed papers on vaccines injuries, disabilities and deaths”. 

Dr. Pierre Kory, a top pulmonary and covid critical care expert, is under investigation by his certification board for so-called “misinformation” about treating Covid and vax injuries that have followed the injections. In this video he gives the real definition of ‘misinformation’ in this context, as “if you provide an opinion or data which does not support the prevailing narrative or policy, then dissent, discord or debate is no longer allowed or invited”.

Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a top London cardiologist who was one of the first to take the COVID-19 shots and promote it on British television, is now warning his colleagues and the public that he has evidence tying the incidents around the world of ‘unexpected’ cardiac events in otherwise healthy people to the COVID-19 vaccines. He has bluntly said, “It is my duty and responsibility as a consultant cardiologist and public health campaigner to urgently inform doctors, patients and members of the public that the COVID mRNA vaccine has likely played a significant role of being a primary cause in all unexpected cardiac arrests, heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure since 2021, until proven otherwise.” Click here to watch Dr. Malhotra detail his personal journey from staunch COVID jab proponent to concerned questioner which has led to his call for the immediate suspension of all COVID shots as real-world data show they cause more harm than good. Dr. Malhotra is an internationally renowned expert in the prevention, diagnosis and management of heart disease and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Our town administration can give him an ear or instead listen solely to health bureaucrats like Deena Hinshaw in AHS, whereby “the Town of Cochrane adheres to guidelines set by the Province of Alberta in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

A recent peer-reviewed German study by medical pathologists from Heidelberg University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany, provides direct evidence that people died from mRNA-vaccine-damaged hearts. German autopsies found “highly unusual tissue inflammation” in people who died shortly after getting the jab, and investigators suspect the inflammation observed would be fatal. They also found spike protein in the tissues of the deceased, but not another key part of SARS-CoV-2. This suggests the actual virus was not part of the problem; the only possible source of the spike protein was the jab. Would such disturbing information concern our town’s Administration?

This video describes how researchers have proven a link between deaths and COVID-19 vaccines.

Alarming news, “Morticians increasingly report strange blood clots in bodies following COVID shot rollout”, embalmers are reporting unusual ‘fibrous’ clots.

The documentary, “Safe and Effective – A Second Opinion”, follows the journey of those suffering COVID-19 ‘vaccine’ injuries.

Oxford University researchers found that those who had taken the anti-COVID shots stood at substantially higher risk of infection with the coronavirus compared to those who had did not receive any COVID jab. Two doses of COVID-19 vaccine make you 44 percent more likely to be infected. Such a finding contradicts the basis of global vaccine policy, including the policy introduced by the Town of Cochrane’s CAO and senior management team, which assumes vaccination significantly cuts incidence and transmission.

Questions remain after Canadian woman dies minutes after COVID booster shot. A Canadian woman dropped dead within minutes of receiving a COVID booster while she was still in the pharmacy.

On June 14, 2021 I made a presentation, “Getting Down to the Facts on COVID-19”, as a ‘delegation’ to Cochrane’s Town Council at its Regular Council’s Meeting. For the most part I found the Council to be indifferent to my message or shared the attitude of Councillor Susan Flowers, saying that she trusted the government as having done “a great job” in dealing with “this horrible situation”, offering as evidence that “we are not burying bodies like they are in India”. I don’t know where she got the idea that deaths were piling up in India. According to the online publication Our World Data, as of December 31, 2022, the COVOD-19 death rate for Canada is 1280 deaths per million and almost a quarter of that for Canada in India at 374 deaths per million. 

There is much, much more of such information, hardly misinformation, challenging the official narrative that is being pushed out, only if the Town is willing to avail themselves of such information. 

Apart from the risk of losing one’s job if not taking a jab that is dubious in terms of its safety and efficacy, there are issues of informed consent and a violation of one’s fundamental freedoms.

The coercion of Town staff to reveal their private medical information and show proof of vaccination on threat of job loss flies in the face of the Nuremberg Code by violating the first principle of the Nuremberg Code, whereby there should be no coercion and there should be informed consent. The Code was established during the Nuremberg trials after World War II in response to criminal activities of Nazi physicians. The first principle of the Nuremberg Code reads, in part, as follows:
1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.
This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion (emphasis added); and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened (that is, informed) decision. 

Furthermore, the unwarranted and unjustified discriminatory practices introduced by the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and senior management team, are a violation of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the highest law of the land. Section 7 of the Charter states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof”, where ‘security of person’ is one’s right to bodily autonomy. At our meeting with Mayor Jeff Genung on April 27th, 2022, Deborah Murphy and I, as well as presenting, as a gift to the Town of Cochrane, a framed copy of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedom, we also passed along a letter addressed to Cochrane’s Mayor and Council penned by the Honorable A. Brian Peckford, the former Premier of Newfoundland-Labrador and the last living First Minister who helped negotiate (with 12 other First Ministers of Canada) and sign the Constitution of Canada to include the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).  In that letter, this living architect of the Charter of Rights and Freedom reminded our Town Council that “This Charter is now being violated by Governments across Canada with mandates that violate a citizen’s freedom to assemble and associate, to earn a livelihood, and to have the right to ‘security of the person’.” It is noteworthy that in developing its COVID policies the Town’s Administration, as well as the Town Council, gave no consideration to how their actions violated the Charter. The Charter was simply out of sight and out of mind. It should therefore come as no surprize that the Town Council, and presumably the Administration as well, opposed placing  copy of the Charter in the Council Chambers.

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For a Draft Staff Update, December 22, 2021, Polley suggested the inclusion of “the Town encourages all staff to receive a booster vaccination when eligible. The Town will continue to support attending such local appointments during work time.” The kind of advice that would bring a twinkle to the eyes of the likes of Justin Trudeau, Anthony Fauci, the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab and big pharma.

January 13, 2022, Tara Thibodeau, to unidentified person (redacted), cc: Mike Derricott and Stacey Loe re “COVID Protocols Adherence – immediate action required”. Someone whose records show to “remain unvaccinated, do not have a medical exemption and have not submitted COVID testing records since October”, warned that failing to comply by end of workday on January 14, 2022 that person would “be placed on a one-month unpaid leave of absence” after which a failure to comply with the protocols could have the consequence of a termination of employment with the town.

On January 18, 2022 Greg Barsi, Manager, Corporate Properties Operations, sent an email to Drew Hyndman advising him of a “Resignation Notice” he had received. That employee explained that the decision to resign was due to that person’s “vaccination status”. Lot of redacted text.

On January 24, 2022, an unidentified (redacted) individual sent an email to the Town’s HR department advising withdrawal from further consideration of the position of Director, Organizational Strategy & Culture. Text blackened out (redacted) so not clear why that person had withdrawn, but suspect that it may be related to vaccination policy.

On February 4, 2022, a request (with large segments blackened out) was received from “a group of Cochrane residents” to appear in front of Town Council at its regular meeting on February 14th. Councillor Wilson was copied in the correspondence with the Town administration. Among the actions sought by the group was to “Instruct the CAO to remove the restrictions implemented as of September 27, 2021, that the Town of Cochrane requires proof of vaccination or negative testing for employment with the Town”.  On February 7, Jaylene Knight, Manager, Legislative Services, advised the group that she would review upcoming Council schedules to see when they could come and present to Council. On February 9, she advised the group that their request would best be dealt with by meeting with the CAO, Mike Derricott, “as items specific to staffing are under his authority”. The group was offered three dates for an online meeting with the CAO, February 16, 18 and 23, and they chose February 18th. After the meeting, one of the participants subsequently sent meeting notes to the CAO and the other (redacted) participants regarding “Proof of Vaccination” requirements for employment with the Town of Cochrane. Included in the notes (in which several bullets were completely blacked out):

• We asked why this was implemented as neither AHS or Province of Alberta mandated this requirement. Mike claimed he was following OHS guidelines rather that AHS.
• Mike stated no one lost employment due to this mandate.
• When asked about liability due to vaccine injury, the remainder of sentence was blacked out (redacted).
• Approximately 10 days ago the mandate was lifted for current employees to be “vaccinated”, which means future booster shots are not required.
• New hires are currently still required to show “proof of vaccination” for employment with the town of Cochrane.
• We spoke about the fact that we lost 20 ICU beds in Alberta during those two years and that AHS fired 25,000 Health care employees, showing a broken health care system that wasn’t justified in many of their actions.
• We asked for a delegation (to appear before Town council), but agreed there was no current reason for one.
• I let Mike know we have a petition going regarding a permanent end to a mask mandate, REP and an “Proof of Vaccination” requirement. Mike suggested I submit it via email to our mayor and councilors.

Action Items:

• Mike is actively looking into ending the “proof of vaccination” requirement for new hires
• We will follow up with Mike in 1 Month.

The author concluded, “I hope we hear from you sooner, informing us of an end to the current above requirement to work for the town.

A February 8, 2022 Alberta government press release, “Alberta takes steps to safely return to normal, which included a removal of the Restrictions Exemption Program, led to the town to issue a Staff Update, February 9, 2022 advising that unvaccinated staff would no longer be required to provide proof of negative testing and all newly hired staff must be fully vaccinated.

February 10, 2022, Thibodeau to unidentified recipient, described a change to the Town’s vaccine policy, whereby, all new hires would be required to be fully vaccinated with the option to provide proof of negative testing to be no longer available. “The town will continue to follow Alberta Health recommendations.”

On February 16, 2022, Camrose’s City Manager sent an email, “Mask Use/Vaccination Policy Poll” to approximately 21 CAOs and City Managers at various towns and cities, including Medicine Hat, Airdrie, Brooks, Chestermere, Lacombe, Red Deer, St. Albert, Strathcona County. Large segments of the subsequent correspondence between the municipalities were blackened out (redacted). 

CAO Mike Dorricott responded to the poll that for Cochrane the vaccination/testing requirement for existing staff (with 98% vaccination rate) will be stopped but will still be required for new hires. Plan to remove the mask mandate along with the province doing so and planning to return to the office once mandatory work from home order is removed.

On February 24 an Administrative Assistant in the HR department informed the head of HR Tara Thibodeau that someone had inquired about their vaccine policy for new hires and the rationale as AHS doesn’t require vaccinations and “we all know that vaccines don’t prevent transmission”. The assistant advised the person making the enquiry that “the decision is based on AHS guidelines (as outlined in our job postings) and we will continue to follow the guidance of the province.” 

On February 25th Lisa Almond, Director Organizational Strategy & Culture, forwarded an email from CAO Derricott entitled, “Urgent meeting – policy implementation authorized by the Town of Cochrane CAO”, to the head of HR, Tara Thibodeau, expressing the opinion, “Wow people are being over the top on this stuff!”. Derricott indicated that he would take the call, rather than Almond, from somebody who had sent that email requesting a meeting with him “on an urgent basis” concerned about Town of Cochrane employees requiring proof of vaccination as included in Town job postings. 

On February 28, 2022, Derricott advised the Town Council, that they were no longer checking vaccination status or requiring testing for staff and although leaving that requirement in job postings that are active, are currently reviewing transitioning away from this practice. 

That same day, Deborah Murphy and I met with the mayor to protest the continuation of a vaccination policy for new hires. 

Later that day, Lisa Almond, sent an email, “Quick brain drain for today!” to Tara Thibodeau indicating “Mike and Mayor have asked us to please remove vaccine requirements for our postings effective tomorrow. If possible, can any postings that are up already be amended as well. Will be completed today.”  Suggested language such as the following in future job postings, “This organization follows any Public Health Emergency Orders issued by the health authority.” A staff member came back with the following on March 1, 2022, “The Town of Cochrane adheres to guidelines set by the Province of Alberta in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Removed, “The Town of Cochrane requires proof of vaccination for employees.” 

March 1st, Tara Thibodeau forwarded a news release from the Alberta government, “Legislation will ensure consistent public health rules”, to Town administrative staff indicating that “Alberta’s government will introduce legislation to limit the ability of municipalities to enact bylaws that are contrary to provincial public health policy and expertise”, commenting that it was interesting information for their team to discuss with respect to a shift on vaccine requirements for staff.

On March 1, 2022, I wrote to Mayor Genung, thanking him for taking the time the previous day to hear our concerns about the mandated vaccination policy in place in our Town, especially as it continues for new hires. I reiterated, as mentioned earlier in our conversation, that “it’s unacceptable, we don’t want another minute of time that this Town is going to discriminate against anybody”. I also indicated that we were pleased that the outcome of our conversation with him was that he made a commitment to have the mandated vaccination policy and those postings removed “immediately”. I concluded with, “From your conversation with the Town’s CAO, we are seeking assurance from you that the Town in its hiring practices through the recruitment process will not require successful candidates to show proof of vaccination to be employed by the Town”.

On March 2, 2022, Mayor Genung sent me an email, “I appreciate you sharing your concerns on hiring practices and job postings. As of yesterday, March 1st all current or future job postings will have no reference to vaccines. Further, I can assure you that there is no requirement for proof of vaccination to be employed by the Town of Cochrane. 

I replied, “thank you for the reply, it is good to know that all the mandates are completely done with in the town of Cochrane”.

On March 7, 2022 Mayor Genung replied to someone (redacted), a citizen of Cochrane, who had written him on February 25, 2022 expressing concern “around the requirements still being in place for employees being required to be vaccinated”, advising that person, “The Town of Cochrane followed the lead of the Provincial Health Authority when it came to Covid protocols and did the same March 1st with the most recent restriction changes. I can also report that there is no requirement for proof of vaccination to be employed by the Town of Cochrane”.

And thus, this sorry saga of bullying and discrimination came to an end. Given that the actions of the Town, and here I mean both the Administration and the Town Council, to impose Covid policies that were at odds with Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, perhaps that explains the reluctance to post the Charter in the Council Chambers.  

Despite the so-called ‘vaccines’ being ineffective at preventing COVID-19 or its transmission, our town Administration haven’t learned anything. Like Pfizer super-salesman Justin Trudeau they keep pushing the COVID-19 jabs. At their COVID-19 Response page at the Town’s web site, they say that they are “proud to support the Provincial vaccine rollout” by having the Cochrane RancheHouse “participating as a vaccination centre”. One also finds this manipulative ‘Our Actions Make a Difference’ poster at the COVID-19 Response page, which at one time was distributed throughout the Town on large billboards.

The poster basically carries the social-shaming message that the only way to show that you are “kind” and “considerate” is to dutifully follow the public health orders issued by the unelected health bureaucrats. Any dissent with respect to those public health orders is a sign that one is “unkind” and “inconsiderate”. Interestingly one also finds such manipulation in the September 21, 2021 Staff Update related to the town’s COVID-19 response, where despite being coercively told that a failure to comply with the new COVID-19 protocols would result in one’s “employment with the Town of Cochrane will be evaluated”, one, nonetheless, is told in that same document to “Choose Kindness” in response to such unkindly coercion.

As concluded previously, “having someone acting in such an inappropriate, unjust manner heading up the Administration of our Town is unacceptable and a blight on our Town.  Mr. Mike Derricott took up the position of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of our Town on January 4, 2021 and within the space of a year he navigated an increase in the size of the Administration and, as documented here, implemented a discriminatory practice at odds with good science and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That is of concern.

Ron Voss
January 1, 2023

“The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look
on and do nothing.”
– Albert Einstein

ADDENDUM – March 2, 2023

Tom Marazzo is a Canadian military veteran, former teacher, and leader in the 2022 Canadian convoy protest. In this video he gives a moving reflection on what it was like for so many families across Canada, and around the world, just before the Convoy arrived in Canada.
At one point in the video, he says, “You turned on me and totally lost your compassion”. When the Town was forcing their staff to reveal their vaccination status and pressuring them to get ‘vaccinated’ with the experimental gene therapy, incredibly, the Town also told the staff to “show kindness”, presumably by expecting them to willingly and happily submit to such authoritarian edicts.

ADDENDUM – April 26, 2023

The Town’s CAO Michael Derricott and Senior Leadership Team were no better than that gaslighter Justin Trudeau and the Town Council compliantly submitted to the CAO’s dictates and stood back and did nothing.