admin Alberta’s Health Minister claims the report includes “a broad range of perspectives,” comprising healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, and advisers. The recommendations, the Minister asserts, offer insights into how the government can better protect Albertans’ health and safety in the future.
Critics, however, describe the report as “a sad document lacking significant credibility,” accusing it of “taking a lot of information completely out of context.”
The government of Alberta quietly released the report on Friday afternoon, 24 January 2025. The $2 million task force assessment reviewed the province’s Covid-19 response and was commissioned shortly after Danielle Smith assumed power in late 2022. Her election campaign had focused on addressing the grievances of supporters unhappy with the province’s handling of the pandemic.
The task force was chaired by Dr. Gary Davidson, a former chief of emergency medicine at Red Deer Hospital, who had publicly accused the government of exaggerating Covid-19’s impact during the pandemic. He claimed hospital admission figures were inflated to justify public health restrictions. Smith defended Davidson’s appointment, stating her intent to include viewpoints that had been “shouted down in the public sphere.”
Among the other task force members was Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a vocal critic of Covid-19 policies in the United States and former President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Brian Conway, Medical Director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, criticised the report, claiming, “This is a document written by individuals with a clear agenda, without peer review.” He also questioned the exclusion of Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s former Chief Medical Officer, saying, “She led the province’s decision-making. How can you write a report on Alberta’s Covid-19 response without involving her?”
Mount Royal University Political Science Professor Dr. Duane Bratt echoed this concern, noting that some key decision-makers, including those within the government, refused to engage with the task force. “They likely felt – and rightly so – that the process was already biased against them,” Bratt said.
Magazine 
