Conservative MP holds independent hearings into COVID-19 vaccine injuries

Over four days in Ottawa this week, Conservative MP Dean Allison held independent hearings into COVID-19 vaccine injuries.

The Allison Inquiry heard from 50 witnesses drawn from more than 1,400 applicants, according to a news release. Most were Canadians who came to Parliament Hill from across the country to share their personal stories of injury.

According to its terms of reference, the inquiry was intended to listen to Canadians and not "make findings of fact or to reach conclusions."

It did not hear from Health Canada and was unsanctioned by the federal government.

Allison, who represents Niagara West in the House of Commons, said the inquiry "was intended to begin a conversation that should've begun years ago."

"No matter what people think about [COVID-19] or the vaccines or public policy, compassion should never be controversial," Allison said on Friday as the inquiry drew to a close.

Over the four days, the inquiry heard from a range of witnesses including Drue Taylor, a 36-year-old massage therapist who called in virtually from Alberta because she said her doctor decided travelling to Ottawa could take too much of a physical toll.

"I actually haven't been able to fly or travel really at all since becoming injured," Taylor told the inquiry. "Any disruption to my very normal could absolutely put me back into a serious flare where I'm bed-bound for weeks to months."

Taylor said she developed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic nervous system condition that causes symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fatigue and nausea when standing up.

After a year and a half of back-and-forth with the government, Taylor said she received an initial payout of $45,000 from the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) . She called her experience with the program "really frustrating," saying she's been in the program's appeal stage for years.

According to Health Canada, VISP received 3,557 claims and paid out over $21 million to claimants between June 2021 and November 2025. Of the 1,433 claims that were assessed by the Medical Review Board, 252 were approved.

To be eligible for the program, people must have experienced "serious or permanent injury" as a result of receiving a vaccine authorized by Health Canada.

Following complaints about its administration, the federal government took it over in 2026. The government had previously contracted a third-party administrator, Oxaro, to administer the program, which was later transitioned to the current Vaccine Impact Assistance Program (VIAP).

"They were supposed to replace my income," Taylor said. "The original payout wouldn't have even replaced my income for that year as a professional massage therapist who owned her own business."