UCP removes COVID-19 vaccine child-death references, takes over ticket sales to controversial event

Controversy continues to dog UCP town hall An unsubstantiated claim dropped, a ticket vendor cutting ties — controversy continues to dog the UCP COVID and kids town hall.

(Correction: CTV News previously stated Dr. Byram Bridle is a veterinarian, which is incorrect. He is a viral immunologist. CTV News apologizes for any confusion caused.)

A website that was selling tickets to a controversial Alberta UCP town hall has dropped the event.

On Monday, Eventbrite had been offering tickets for An Injection of Truth, a meeting hosted by the party, led by Calgary-Lougheed MLA Eric Bouchard.

As of Thursday morning, the ticket seller‘s URL for the event returned an error.

However, the event is still going ahead, suggests the UCP’s official website, which now includes a separate link to sell tickets.

An Injection of Truth is described as a meeting where “current scientific data, victim statements” will be shared with its audience.

It says it will include a number of panelists.

“Currently we have confirmed the following participants: Dr. David J. Speicher, Dr Eric Payne (Calgary based pediatrician), Dr William Makis (Radiation Oncologist). Dr. Chris Shoemaker (what’s in the Japanses Nakahara Study?) Dr. Jessica Rose (who recently testified to the US Congress about the plasma DNA in the injections, and Dr. Byram W. Bridle (Canada’s leading virology authority from the University of Guelph),” the UCP said.

According to what CTV News has found, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario confirmed Speicher is not a medical doctor, Payne filed a lawsuit against AHS over mandatory vaccination, Makis' licence with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta was cancelled in 2019, Shoemaker was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 2023, Rose is an "independent researcher" and Bridle is an Ontario veterinarian.

After CTV News ran the story on Monday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) reached out to the UCP to request it remove a reference to Makis being an “Edmonton ER doctor.”

“He is most definitely not an Edmonton ER physician,” said an AHS spokesperson.

“You’d have to check with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, but I’m sure he is not currently licensed as a physician.

“He has not had AHS privileges for a number of years.”

Makis is now listed by the party as “a radiation oncologist.”

“These aren’t Canada’s leading experts on this topic,” said Lorian Hardcastle, associate law professor at the University of Calgary.

“These are people who have adopted a particular ideological view and are going to tell the audience what they want to hear.”

Infectious disease specialists say the data used by the UCP was incorrect and the rhetoric employed was irresponsible.

“The problem is once people hear something like that, it actually takes a lot more energy to rebut that than just throw anything out there,” said Dr. Lynora Saxinger with the University of Alberta.

Saxinger said a statement made in the original post about the event -- that child deaths had increased by 350 per cent since the pandemic -- wasn’t supported by facts.

“It’s a very, very shaky data statement and nobody could find anything verifiable that would support it.”

CTV News has reached out to Eventbrite as well as the Alberta government and UCP for comments on the event but no response has been received.

(With files from Teri Fikowski)