00:00:00.000True North has broken an unbelievable story about a four-year-old and his family getting evicted from the Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver because they are not vaccinated.
00:00:09.980What on earth is going on in our country? I'm Candice Malcolm and this is The Candice Malcolm Show.
00:00:18.680Hi everyone, thank you so much for tuning into the podcast. This is one of those stories that just absolutely makes you stop in your tracks and just think about where we are as a country.
00:00:28.220This is a really, really heart-wrenching story and I'm really pleased and proud of reporter and editor Harley Sims who broke the story.
00:00:37.560He was the very first one to report it. So basically the story is that a four-year-old boy is battling leukemia.
00:00:45.120He's in the hospital in Vancouver and his family is staying at the Ronald McDonald House.
00:00:48.840This is sort of a typical kind of practice that a hospital will specialize in a certain type of treatment in a big city.
00:00:55.960So a city like Vancouver or Toronto and families from all over the country, all over the sort of rural parts of the province can go and use the Ronald McDonald House to stay to live there because they have to live in Vancouver, which is obviously an incredibly expensive city.
00:01:09.960They have to live there while their child is undergoing this treatment.
00:01:12.760And so this new policy got rolled out, the Ronald McDonald House, saying that everybody who was there, everybody age five and up, had to be vaccinated, otherwise they're going to get evicted.
00:01:25.220And basically the story is a father who just is sort of beside himself, that him and his family are about to get thrown out in the midst of their child's cancer treatment.
00:01:34.680And he posted a video of himself, it went viral online, and Harley was the first one to talk to him, first one to interview him, first one to get it up.
00:01:42.280So Harley, thanks so much for joining the show and thanks for your excellent reporting on this.
00:01:48.840Yeah, I think I just finished writing the story about, you know, Quebec Premier Legault's announcement that they were going to make vaccines mandatory in Quebec under the guise of this, you know, health care fee.
00:02:04.000And of course, there being the second jurisdiction in the Western world to do this outside of Austria.
00:02:12.880I mean, you can't, you can't even, you can't, it's hard to choose, right?
00:02:16.580But this, this came across my desk, I think about seven or eight last night.
00:02:21.820It was a posting on Twitter of a video of a distraught father who is staying, as you mentioned, at Ronald McDonald House with his young family.
00:02:39.660He just passed his test over Christmas.
00:02:41.800His wife had left her job so they could move to Vancouver while their four-year-old son, Jack, gets treatment for leukemia at BC Children's Hospital.
00:03:33.160There was a provision or a grace period, as they called it, for people who were already staying there, like the Ferguson family, where they would have until January 31st to get one shot.
00:03:43.840As I wrote in the story and as he told me, his wife was crying.
00:03:49.880And he said, look, this can't be this can't be real.
00:04:06.360That's because he went over everything in his head.
00:04:08.100And he confronted staff and he demanded to know why this was the case, why it was that, for example, people who both vaccinated and unvaccinated can carry COVID.
00:04:34.360Even if the parents are vaccinated and they don't want their child vaccinated, which, you know, there's another family from Kelowna in that situation, they would have to leave.
00:04:45.980And so he, God bless him, he could not believe it was happening.
00:05:12.240And maybe if somebody out there knows somewhere we could stay until June, which is when they expect Jack's treatments to be finished, that'd be great.
00:05:29.460Any story with kids getting sick and dealing with that kind of trauma is just hard enough to grapple with and deal with.
00:05:36.600You know, I was reading through his post and reading your story and watching the video, and it's just very, very heart-wrenching.
00:05:43.340And then, you know, on top of that, usually when people are in this situation, the worst situation you could possibly imagine being in, you know, you're met with charity and kindness and love and compassion.
00:05:54.640And that's sort of the underlying purpose of the Ronald McDonald House.
00:05:59.460What an amazing service they offer, allowing families a place to stay while they're going through this horrible, horrific thing in their life.
00:06:06.760And yet here we see sort of the exact opposite of that, saying, you know, because you don't comply with our ideology, we're going to throw you out on the street.
00:08:35.500And so he said when he was lying there Monday night that this was something that he had to stand up for.
00:08:43.380And just make people aware that if it's going to happen in a place where children are fighting for their lives,
00:08:52.620a place where people have donated money to save sick and dying children, that's the end of it.
00:08:58.960He said this this is if it's happening here, this is the end of it.
00:09:01.540And he said he can't believe we're at this point that the country has gotten to this where this is actually happening.
00:09:08.320And I was speaking on Mississauga radio earlier and I just said, well, yes, it's horrific.
00:09:14.400And I'm you know, I'm I'm not really surprised anymore at the things I'm hearing about this.
00:09:19.280But the more people like Austin who speak out, record this stuff, who let us know, let True North know, we can remind them that you feel something weird is going on.
00:10:06.820Look at the hospital statistics over in Ontario, we see that three quarters of the people in the hospital right now are with are vaccinated.
00:10:47.860And, you know, he's completely OK with scapegoating and vilifying this this one group.
00:10:52.760It's like, you know, at a time when the when the logic for the vaccine mandates is completely falling apart, you see you see people pushing it with even more more firmly pushing it, which shows you that this is about science.
00:11:06.060This is about ideology and this is about power and authority.
00:11:09.900And then and then to add that extra layer on top of that, that you're talking about five year olds, that that anyone who's not vaccinated over the age of five, like, you know, the idea that adults should get vaccinated.
00:11:21.920It's like, OK, adults can die from COVID.
00:11:26.120And I understand wanting to protect the wrong McDonald House because there are a lot of people who are sick in there and, you know, autoimmune compromise and that kind of stuff.
00:11:32.840But the reality is that COVID is still getting in.
00:11:35.540So it just it just seems like we're at this impasse impasse now where, you know, one side is ratcheting up their tactics and their and their rhetoric.
00:11:45.740And it looks like, you know, if this is any sign of things to come, that the other side is starting to stand up for themselves as well.
00:11:53.600Is that sort of what what you're seeing out there?
00:11:55.280Yeah, I mean, to start off with, I had two cousins who had cancer as children.
00:12:04.180They stayed their family stayed at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver.
00:12:41.460And there's some pretty gruesome answers about why people start doing this, why they start scapegoating and blaming each other and demonizing each other.
00:12:49.340And, you know, as some people I know, I was a peace officer in British Columbia before joining TrueNorth.
00:12:57.380I do have an idea what the ugly side of humanity is.
00:13:01.220And I don't think the people that, you know, are, you know, so quick to demonize people for not getting COVID shots.
00:13:09.980I don't think they know what they're feeding.
00:13:11.460I don't think they know what they're playing with.
00:13:12.920They've lived, you know, pampered lives, you know, they've, you know, been, you know, spared violence and they've been able to indulge their free speech and all this stuff.
00:13:23.300But now they're playing with something that they have never seen and other parts of the world have seen it.
00:13:28.660And I think we're slowly getting there.
00:13:31.720And I think we need to pull back, especially over something like this, a charity that gives families of young children a place to stay while they fight for their lives.
00:13:42.780And just throwing this in the lap of a family whose four-year-old has cancer, something that no person should experience, much less parents, is just, it's evil.
00:13:55.500And I think we should, we should stop, take a breath, and at least agree that this is the wrong place for it.
00:14:03.020And, you know, from there, start talking about other places where it's wrong.
00:14:08.780I mean, there's just, there's so much wrong with this story.
00:14:11.880There's so much wrong with the situation in Canada because, you know, we talked a little bit about how Omicron, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't only affect the unvaccinated.
00:14:27.420So it seems like, you know, the government officials don't really have an alternative.
00:14:31.280Like their alternative is just cracking down even further on the unvaccinated.
00:14:36.240And, you know, there's so much wrong with that.
00:14:38.600There's so much wrong with the idea that we're locking people down, that we're not allowing them to, you know, go out and get fresh air, exercise, be healthy.
00:14:45.540The fact that there's gyms closed in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec right now, it's like, you know, if you want a healthy population, if you want a population that, you know,
00:14:54.660with so many people dying of COVID, they have all these underlying conditions.
00:14:57.600It's like, instead of just wanting to have this silver bullet, everyone get a vaccine and we'll go back to normal.
00:15:03.280It's like, why don't we address some of the underlying causes in this society?
00:15:06.540Like we, you know, a lot of people who die of COVID have vitamin D deficiency.
00:15:10.360A lot of people who die of COVID are obese or have unhealthy lifestyles.
00:15:15.740I know one of the things that you've been reporting on a lot at True North is a group of gyms that have sort of defied government orders and refuse to close.
00:15:26.200But, but this is such an important issue that, that kind of, again, goes against the justification that the government's imposing.
00:15:33.560Like if people are sick, don't you think that them going and exercising is healthy, not just for like their physical health, but also mental health?
00:15:41.540We've seen a huge issue with sort of diseases of despair, suicide, depression, alcoholism, drug overdoses during this time.
00:15:49.320And it's like they're ignoring one side of the equation and, and, and only focusing like single-mindedly on this one aspect, like vaccines, vaccines, vaccines.
00:15:59.320So anyway, all that's just to say, I, I wonder what, um, like, you know, from, for you from talking to gym owners and, and, and sort of speaking to these people, what, what, what, what do you think of the mindset of, um, the gym owners, for instance, that are defying these orders?
00:16:14.520Um, what, what, what, what is it like for them?
00:16:16.440Well, I talked to Sarah Hodson, who was, uh, who's, uh, president of the fitness council of Canada.
00:16:24.540And she told me, and she's a gym owner as well.
00:16:26.780And she told me that, you know, uh, gym owners are actually responding to this lockdown very differently from last time.
00:17:08.700It makes them feel good to watch people, um, get in shape.
00:17:12.540Um, and so, uh, it's not just, you know, about being locked down financially, although that's huge.
00:17:18.420Um, it's also about just the hypocrisy of saying, we're trying to keep people healthy by shutting down a facility where you go to get healthy.
00:17:26.660Um, and not only that, but if we're trying to keep people healthy, what about mental health?
00:17:31.260We've heard about mental health, like constantly over the past 20 years.
00:17:36.840Um, people's mental health is, is, is, it's in terrible shape right now.
00:17:41.540I mean, people like we're not, we're talking about shot lockdowns and, and, and, uh, avoiding COVID, but we're, we're not really talking about what it's doing to people.
00:17:49.580Not only individuals, but also like societies, communities, people are sick, the way people deal with each other is different.
00:17:56.180The way we look at each other is different.
00:17:57.780We are in an age of unprecedented incivility right now.
00:18:01.220And, uh, I mean, as I'm, I'm a fitness enthusiast.
00:18:47.520They've suffered from, you know, avian flu and swine flu, which were, you know, um, pretty serious back when they happened.
00:18:53.600I had both, you know, they, they weren't great, but you know, here I am.
00:18:58.300Um, and, and so, uh, it's just come full circle and it's great to see, um, gyms, one of which is in Kelowna.
00:19:04.900And actually it's interesting because, uh, Mr. Ferguson at, uh, Ronald McDonald house, just before he loaded the, uploaded the video of him confronting staff.
00:19:13.840Uh, he had posted a video in support of that gym.
00:19:15.840Um, and so, uh, it's good that they're standing up.
00:19:19.840Um, and again, like Mr. Ferguson, they, they don't quite understand what's happening.
00:19:25.840Um, we can't just willy nilly shut places down, especially when there's no, um, you know, scientific support for it.
00:19:31.840And, and so, um, I, I think it's good.
00:19:33.840I think we're on the right track and I think, uh, the more people support, um, any opposition to, to these rules that make no sense, the sooner we get out of this.
00:19:44.840Well, it's great that there's a network of people that are starting to find each other and finding sort of kindred spirits or like-minded people to rally around because it makes you feel like you're not alone in this.
00:19:54.840And that you're, you're not the only one that, that thinks that everything going on in politics right now is totally crazy and totally offside.
00:20:01.840Uh, what, what you were talking about there about taking sort of control of your own health and not taking the advice of politicians.
00:20:07.840There's just, there's a funny meme going around.
00:20:11.840And obviously when Djokovic got a night entry or he got detained at the Australian border, uh, people were saying, you know, there's a really healthy guy here.
00:20:19.840And, and yet, you know, you have these like kind of fat politicians, um, telling him that he's unhealthy.
00:20:24.840And meanwhile, you know, the meme is like a picture of him, this like perfect specimen of like male athleticism, like incredibly healthy person.
00:20:33.840And then, you know, you have like a picture of overweight, uh, Bill Gates over here.
00:20:38.840And it says like, one of these people is a world leader in public health.
00:20:41.840And it's like, you know, it just says, it says a thousand words right there.
00:20:46.840But I, I, I think in some ways it's an opportunity because people can take control of their own health, right?
00:20:52.840It's like, I know how to protect myself and my family.
00:20:54.840Uh, we're all taking vitamin D supplements and I make sure that we all exercise and we go for walks and we eat healthy.
00:21:00.840You know, we have good diets, we don't eat junk food and stuff like that.
00:21:03.840And it's like, that's, that's going to do a lot more than following whatever latest hoop that, uh, you know, Justin Trudeau or some idiot, uh, top doctor is, is telling us.
00:21:15.840Like, I know how to protect myself and my family a lot better than their ever evolving, uh, set of restrictions and recommendations that are constantly changing.
00:21:23.840And half the time they're totally contradictory.
00:21:25.840Well, Harley, I really appreciate this.
00:21:27.840I hope that you'll continue to report on the Ferguson family and we can find out what's next.
00:21:32.840I'm so pleased that their story got picked up so broadly and that, you know, they've been able to raise money hopefully that they need to be able to stay in Vancouver and stay comfortable.
00:21:42.840And I'm sure that they are, you know, being, um, inundated with letters of support, um, and people sort of praying for them and wishing them well.
00:21:50.840So, um, kudos to you for finding that story and really just well done.