Collegiate instructors sue University of Winnipeg, province over 'discriminatory' vaccine mandates

Three University of Winnipeg Collegiate instructors are suing the school, the province and Manitoba's chief public health officer over a vaccine mandate they call "overboard, unreasonable, and discriminatory."

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench on Monday, names a number of other departments including Manitoba Health and the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration.

The plaintiffs are:

The three instructors say they were placed on involuntary unpaid leave on Sept. 7, 2021, because of their vaccine status and are being held up to "ridicule, hatred, maltreatment, discrimination."

"All of the plaintiffs have suffered vilification and extreme ill-will being directed at them as 'unvaccinated' people as a result of the University of Winnipeg and other government of Manitoba representatives making false public statements and promulgating policies which have the effect of stating the unvaccinated are to blame for the pandemic," according to the statement of claim.

The lawsuit accuses the province and the university of violating a section of the Criminal Code of Canada that makes it an offence to make statements that wilfully promote hatred against an "identifiable group."

It goes on to say the unvaccinated are being blamed for hospital overcrowding and for the spread of COVID-19. It says the government has instituted policies that make the unvaccinated "sub-humans" by restricting their rights to access society.

The instructors say the university's policy claims vaccination is the single most effective public health measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and, along with physical distancing, capacity limits and indoor mask use, it is "essential to the university's institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

They say there is no scientific basis to support that policy now that we are seeing breakthrough cases and transmission of the virus among fully vaccinated people.

"Scientific studies now show no significant difference in the viral load between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who tested positive for COVID-19," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says the narrative surrounding COVID-19 vaccines has created a false sense of security in the vaccinated, and that by allowing people to get "vaccine passports" to dine in restaurants, go to bars and attend hockey games, the province is making people believe they are safe "while they actually can and do spread COVID-19 as efficiently as an unvaccinated individual."

"The plaintiffs assert that the COVID-19 vaccines are experimental in nature and have not undergone sufficient long-term safety observation," according to the statement of claim.

The lawsuit says normally the approval process for vaccines lasts years "in order to properly assess the benefits and risks from clinical data, including any potential long-term side effects."

It goes on to say that vaccine ingredients have never been publicly revealed so people can't know whether they might have a fatal allergy to any of them.