Tamara Ugolini's Top 5 Reports from 2021

2024 Student Journalism Conference

Applications are now open for The Democracy Fund's third annual Student Journalism Conference. This is a one-of-a-kind, all-expenses-paid opportunity for young aspiring journalists in Canada!

TDF Student Journalism Conference 2024

E-transfer (Canada):
[email protected] - password RebelNews if required

Cheques made out to Rebel News:
Rebel News Network Ltd.
PO Box 61056 Eglinton/Dufferin RO
Toronto, ON M6E 5B2

Crypto

In this segment, I’m sharing with you my top five favourite moments of journalistic coverage from the madness that encased Canadians in 2021. It’s been hard to keep up but the report that brought me back to work after not even 3 short months of maternity leave, was the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcageon Ontario fiasco where the nursing home had nearly half of their residents die in a 2 and a half week period from March 24th - April 9th2020.

The report, published in June 2021, showcased the shocking results of the freedom of information request (sometimes referred to as an ATIP) I had filed eight months earlier. Despite having e-mail proof from Pinecrest’s administrator that they had daily communications with Public Health and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, the request came up that no responsive records existed! And I couldn’t pass it off to another journalist – it was my first real investigative work as a Rebel.

Since then, my freedom of information requests have piled up.

A month later, I filed another one with Health Canada after my interview with Dr. Marc Benoit, a family physician and emergency department doctor who was trying to determine what risk versus benefit analysis was conducted to justify the Pfizer injection for children aged 12 to 17. He wanted the quantitative evidence but what he received in response was qualitative – that vaccine acceptability of parents and guardians was used as evidence to roll out the injection. That’s being filibustered.

My next favourite ATIP was one of the only ones that I’ve received back to date. In October 2021, I interviewed data analyst Kelly Brown around his findings in regard to myocarditis risks, primarily in young males, post COVID injections. Afterwards, I reached out to Toronto Public Health with solid pointed questions. They bluntly responded that they don’t take questions from Rebel News! So, I filed an access to information request to find out who said that and why. Turns out Megan Kilty, the director of communications, scrambled with swift emails and discussions with Toronto’s medical officer of health Dr. Eileen DeVilla and Toronto board of health chair Joe Cressy to determine this nonsense. She even thought my questions were good, and needed to be prepared for it in the future!

Another favourite of mine was featuring my now friend, Kate Wand, who was heavily pregnant at the time and advocating against what she referred to obstetrical violence at the hands of hospital administrators imposing mask mandates and visitor restrictions on labouring women. These policies completely eroded the intimate bonding moments necessary for new families and were especially terrifying for first time mothers.

Which leads us to my latest favourite: an interview with now expelled Western University student Harry Wade. Having an engaging, intellectual conversation with him and hearing the articulate manner in which he responded to my questions gives me hope for the future that the generations after me are not all indoctrinated, mindless robots.
 
I hope you enjoy these clips as much as I do and I look forward to bringing you more great content in 2022! Happy New Year from my family to yours!