Canada's COVID-19 Antibody Survey

During the pandemic, it has been a race among nations to see which can impose the most draconian measures on their unwitting citizens.  Among the top ten finishers in the advanced economy classification throughout the past two years has been Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  A recent development in Canada takes government overreach to a whole new level.

 

Let's open by looking at some background information on Statistics Canada (aka StatsCan), the Canadian government agency responsible for the accumulation of national statistics.  Under Canada's Statistics Act, the Chief Statistician of Canada has the right to determine whether a request for information from the public is mandatory or voluntary under Section 8 (1) of the Act.  For example, participation in the census of population and labour force participation are all mandatory.  

 

Back in March 2022, Statistics Canada announced the following survey:

 

The study consists of two parts as follows:

 

“The first part of the survey is an electronic questionnaire about general health, chronic conditions and symptoms, access to care and exposure to COVID-19. The questionnaire must be completed prior to moving on to the second part as it is necessary to collect your personal information so we can send the results to you, and to obtain your written consent to complete the second part. 

 

The second part is an at-home finger-prick blood test which you will administer to yourself as soon as possible after completing the electronic questionnaire. You will then return the dried blood spot sample using the enclosed prepaid package.  The lab will analyze the sample to determine the presence of COVID-19 antibodies.”

 

Fortunately for Canadians, in this case, participation in the survey is voluntary.  As part of the survey, Canadians who participate will have to provide Statistics Canada with their provincial health card number to help link their antibody data with personal health information that provincial health departments, health registries and other health organizations already have on file.  In other words, participants are potentially releasing all of their most personal health information to Canada's federal government which normally does not have access to provincial health records.

 

Canadians were randomly selected to participate in the survey and must provide consent as follows:

 

“While completing the electronic questionnaire, you will be asked for consent to:

 

1.) provide the dried blood spot sample

 

2.) receive your test results

 

3.) store your sample in a biobank

 

4.) share certain data with provincial and territorial ministries of health, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada and potentially McGill University.

 

By consenting, you confirm that:

 

you understand that even though you have agreed to some or all of the items above, you can still withdraw from any part of this survey or subsequent studies at any time

you understand what is involved in taking part in the survey."

 

Participants are also consenting to store the dried blood spot samples after antibody testing is complete.  These samples will be stored anonymously at the Statistics Canada biobank located at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratories in Winnipeg.  It is important for participants to note the following:

 

"The samples will be used for future health research projects. Only researchers who submit projects that meet the strict conditions imposed by Statistics Canada, in particular those relating to confidentiality, will have access to these samples."

 

Here's a further quote on what consenting means in this survey:

 

“You will also be asked if you consent to sharing the information you provide with Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and provincial and territorial ministries of health (including l'Institut de la statistique du Québec for Quebec residents). Sharing data allows researchers to fully utilize the information we collect to improve health policies and, in turn, the health of Canadians. If you consent, your data will be shared under the following conditions:

 

Your name, address, telephone number and health card number could be shared.

The Institut de la statistique du Québec and provincial and territorial ministries of health may make this data available to local health authorities. Local health authorities will not receive any personal identifiers, only your postal code.

Your information will not be shared with any other party without your consent.

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the ministries of health will use this information only for statistical and research purposes.

To avoid duplication of surveys, Statistics Canada might sign agreements to share the data from this survey with McGill University. McGill is the legal entity representing the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF). The CITF is a group of scientists and experts who use data to support decision-makers in their efforts to protect Canadians and minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

With your consent, your survey responses and postal code will be shared with McGill and the CITF. Names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and health card numbers will not be shared."

 

The website goes on in great detail on how to voluntarily donate your body tissues to the Trudeau government:

 

 

While some may think that my tinfoil hat is a bit tight today, I'm not particularly fond of supplying my DNA to any government anywhere and at anytime  What is particularly galling about this survey is that tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were not considered as a justified reason for not accepting Canada's more-or-less mandatory COVID-19 vaccines which were required for employment and travel by train or airplane for example.  Now, all of a sudden, the Trudeau government is interested in how many Canadians have these antibodies and linking their presence to vaccination status.  Isn't that an interesting turn of events?  And, as far as privacy goes, we all know that the Canadian government has a poor track record when it comes to protecting Canadians’ confidential information as shown here:

 

 

In closing, ask yourself two questions:

 

1.) Would you trust the government with your body tissues?

 

2.) Should you trust the government with your body tissues?

 

Given that Canada's government froze the bank accounts and other financial instruments of Canadians who disagreed with their vaccine mandates, I really don't think that they can be trusted with any of our most personal information.