Const. Helen Grus: 'Investigation into criminal negligence' needed for vaccine program
"I will defend my actions, babies are dead," Const. Helen Grus testified, during Thursday's proceedings in her disciplinary tribunal in Ottawa, standing accused by the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) â her employer â of having committed discreditable conduct.
In 2021, Grus inquired about possible links between an increase in infant deaths brought to the OPSâs attention following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across Canada in December 2020.
Grus carried out her inquiry â which the OPS describes as an "unauthorized project" and illegitimate investigation â in her capacity as a detective working in the OPS Sexual Assault and Child Abuse (SACA) unit. The OPS alleges that she was insubordinate in executing this endeavour.
"There are so many loving, caring parents who are without answers," Grus stated in testimony, referring to unexplained infant deaths.
Grus stated that she âidentified a trend [of] alert, healthy babiesâ dying in their mother's arms, which she said was unprecedented in her experience as a SACA unit detective.
She also said that her SACA unit colleague with the longest tenure in the section had only seen one such instance of an alert and healthy baby dying in its mother's arms across his entire tenure in the section. She said that two such instances occurred within a two-week period in 2021, which helped form the basis of her inquiry.
Grus said âthe doubling, tripling of baby deaths over years past [in 2021]â contributed to her impetus for her inquiry.
âI do not believe I behaved discreditably in any way, shape, or form,â Grus maintained.
Grus continued, âI believe I was acting in good faith, not only my duty as a police officer but my duty as a human being⊠because I suspect criminality based on all the evidence before me.â
"I suspect that it's criminal negligence," Grus testified, referencing governmental and commercial coordination towards manufacturing and mandating COVID-19 vaccines. "I believe a criminal investigation should continue," she added.
She continued, "To this day, they're still promoting everything as 'safe and effective'... I believe there should be a criminal investigation into criminal negligence.â
âI'm not making conclusions, but there are questions that have not been asked," she stated.
Bath-Sheba van den Berg, Grusâs defence counsel, offered two legal defences for her client. She said Grus exercised "reasonable care" and "due diligence" in her inquiry.
Grusâs execution of "reasonable care," she said, amounted to her clientâs appropriate aggregation of data, facts, and information upon which to found the rationale for her inquiry. She said Grus took "positive steps to find out the correct information" to gather "the facts upon which [she] held her honest beliefs."
Van den Berg said Grus exercised "due diligence" in adhering to the OPS chain of command, and that her client took "all reasonable steps to avoid circumventing the chain of command and to inform her seniors" of her investigation.
Grusâs application of "reasonable care" and "due diligence," van den Berg determined, "renders her actions innocent."
