Callers cut off after nasty attack on Dr. Henry at Interior Health COVID town hall

Only seven people were allowed to ask questions at an Interior Health virtual town hall meeting on COVID last night, Aug. 11, and only one verbal question was allowed after a nasty attack on Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

The first two callers in the one-hour session questioned “this psychological manipulation and vilifying of people who wish to maintain their right of personal health,” and whether there was actually a real test for COVID-19.

But it was the sixth caller, Matt from Kamloops, that seemed to be the final straw.

He was introduced by the moderator as someone with a question for Dr. Henry who was “wondering about how we, as individuals, can make a difference that will help us get back to normal."

But that’s not what he really wanted to say.

“As a strategically placed agent of the United Nations and the Rockefeller foundation working for Bill Gates and big pharma, you came out of nowhere and now you’re in charge of all the vaccine,” he said. “Essentially, you’re in charge of the biggest eugenics operation that has ever taken place on planet earth and you’re responsible.”

He was quickly cut off and Health Minister Adrian Dix jumped in to defend Dr. Henry as “an outstanding leader in public health care.”

“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but we don’t need untrue personal attacks,” he said.

The second caller, Greg, was also cut off after questioning the validity of the COVID test and saying there are thousands of side effects from the vaccines.

“It is a very well recognized and validated test,” Dr. Henry said after Greg was cut off. “You really need to look at where you find the credible information. There are a lot of people out there who are trying to undermine this for a whole variety of reasons.”

For the last 15 minutes of the town hall meeting the only questions were read out by the moderator.

In all, there were 11 questions posed over the hour-long session.

One written question asked about current case counts.

Interior Health’s chief medical health officer Dr. Sue Pollock said there have been about 1,800 cases in the Central Okanagan since July 1 and there are now about 1,500 active cases in the region.

Of the cases seen since July 1, 74 per cent were in people who were not immunized, 19 per cent had one dose of vaccine and seven per cent had two doses.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community? Create a free account to comment on stories, ask questions, and join meaningful discussions on our new site.

Leave a Reply

Rob Munro

Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics