Smith backs choice of ‘contrarian’ president to lead COVID-19 review

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EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says it’s a good idea that a doctor who accused the province of exaggerating the impact of COVID-19 on hospitals is now leading a review of COVID-era health data. pandemic.

Smith says Dr. Gary Davidson was selected to lead the data review because he wants to hear a variety of points of view, including those “despised in the public sphere.”

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“I needed someone to look at everything that happened with fresh eyes and maybe with a little bit of a contrarian perspective because we’ve only been given one perspective,” Smith told reporters at the legislature on Tuesday.

“I let (Davidson) put together the panel with the guidance that I would like to have a wide range of perspectives.”

The task force’s work is nearly complete, but few details have been released since it was created in 2022.

The Globe and Mail reported Tuesday that Davidson, former chief of emergency medicine at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, was named chair of the task force a year ago.

During the height of the fourth wave of the pandemic in 2021, Davidson claimed hospital admission figures were exaggerated and manipulated to justify public health restrictions.

The provincial health authority, Alberta Health Services, rejected those accusations as false.

Davidson did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

It is not the first COVID analysis ordered by the Smith government

In 2022, Smith came to power thanks to a vote by members of the United Conservative Party. His campaign took advantage and promised to redress the grievances of COVID-19.

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Smith vowed to seek amnesty for those who violate COVID public health restrictions. She did not comply and said later that she did not realize that she did not have the authority to do so.

In late 2022, Smith led the creation of what would become the Davidson task force with a mandate to review data and offer recommendations on how to best manage a future pandemic.

Smith said Tuesday he wanted discussion on how to better analyze public health data and verify concerns about vaccine side effects.

The government allocated $2 million for the project, but Smith said he expects it to come in under budget. The final report is expected to reach the government next month and Smith has said the results will be made public.

It is the second third-party COVID analysis commissioned by the Smith government.

Former Reform Party leader Preston Manning submitted a report last year reviewing Alberta’s experience with COVID through the lens of improving laws and regulations governing future pandemics.

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Manning’s report recommended the province consider “alternative scientific narratives” as part of a “balanced response” in future crises.

When asked why the government didn’t publicize the details of Davidson’s task force as much as the work of Manning’s panel, Smith responded, “We wanted them to do their job.”

Opposition NDP criticizes panel, Smith

Opposition New Democrat leader Rachel Notley lashed out at the panel and Smith, calling it a waste of public money to launch a secret consultation led by someone with “marginal views”.

Notley said, “I believe the Earth is round and I don’t think the people of Alberta should pay to have people who believe it’s flat participate in the conversation.”

During COVID, Smith publicly questioned the effectiveness of pandemic rules and gathering restrictions, particularly compared to the potential for long-term damage to physical and mental well-being.

Smith questioned the conventional scientific approach to the pandemic and endorsed discredited COVID-19 treatments such as horse dewormer, ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

She embraced the Great Barrington Declaration, a theory that called for protecting the elderly and frail but otherwise letting COVID-19 run free to build herd immunity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.

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