Turmoil in Detective Grus Trial as Prosecutor Leaves Ottawa Police

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Officials Stonewall Questions on Whether Controversial Prosecutor Vanessa Stewart Remains on Grus Case

Update: November 14, 2024 – Defense Counsel Still Not Notified – Lead Defense Counsel Bath-Shéba van den Berg appeared on The Lavigne Show with co-host Donald Best – and confirmed that the OPS Legal Unit has still not notified her of Vanessa Stewart’s status change or if this will impact the hearing set to resume January 5, 2025.

Original Story Published November 11, 2024

The disciplinary hearing of Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus has plunged into chaos amid uncertainty surrounding the police prosecutor, Vanessa Stewart (photo above). Noted for her controversial courtroom behaviour and facing allegations of procedural abuses, Stewart is on a six-month leave from the Ottawa Police Service to join the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

The refusal of police officials and Stewart herself to clarify her current involvement in the Grus case leaves the future of the hearing, set for January 5, 2025, shrouded in doubt.

Despite an automatic email reply confirming Stewart’s leave of absence and assignment to the Attorney General’s office, there has been a wall of silence from the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), the Attorney General’s office, and Stewart herself. Insider sources at the Ottawa Police Association reveal that Detective Grus, her attorney Bath-Shéba van den Berg, and the police union remain uninformed about Stewart’s departure or the ramifications for the case.

Further complicating matters, two police insiders report that Stewart’s contract with the OPS Legal Unit was terminated due to performance issues.

This development casts a shadow over prosecution continuity and integrity in a case already mired with allegations of bias and misconduct by prosecutors, prosecution witnesses, and the hearing officer.

Detective Helen Grus

Detective Grus was suspended on February 4, 2022, by the OPS Professional Standards Unit for allegedly conducting an ‘unauthorized’ investigation into nine unexplained infant deaths. She was exploring the possibility that the vaccination status of the mothers might be a factor in the fatalities. In July 2022, Grus was charged internally with one count of discreditable conduct under the Ontario Police Services Act.

The proceedings have been controversial – at times even raucous and chaotic – with defense attorneys accusing police witnesses, prosecution lawyers, and the Tribunal Hearing Officer of blatant bias. Shock rippled through legal circles upon the revelation that Prosecutor Stewart and a key prosecution witness are sisters-in-law—a glaring conflict of interest that would be unacceptable in any legitimate court. Yet, Hearing Officer Police Superintendent Chris Renwick, notably lacking legal training, permitted this infringement.

Concerns of bias were compounded by reports of interference from officials at the Public Health Agency of Canada, a matter that appeared on the House of Parliament Order Paper Questions in March 2024.

The Grus disciplinary hearing reached a boiling point on January 10, 2024, when defense lawyers levelled allegations of criminal witness tampering against Professional Standards Inspector Hugh O’Toole. Just minutes before Grus was set to testify, O’Toole sent her a threatening email obviously intended to intimidate Grus into changing her testimony and supporting exhibits.

Hugh O’Toole

In the wake of formal complaints alleging Criminal Intimidation of a Witness and Obstruction of Justice, O’Toole resigned from the OPS. He has since surfaced working as a lawyer at a Kemptville legal firm.

Illegal Wiretapping Scandal

Both Inspector O’Toole and Prosecutor Stewart were also implicated in the February 2022 illegal wiretapping of Detective Grus and her family under the “urgent emergency” provisions of the Criminal Code – when no such urgent emergency existed.

As the case approaches its third year, observers question whether the OPS will continue to pursue the charges against Detective Grus. Three key factors fuel this speculation:

1/ Emerging Evidence: Since Grus’s suspension almost three years ago, there has been a tsunami of credible evidence that the officer was correct all along in her suspicions.

Authorities in many jurisdictions have admitted that manufacturers and authorities concealed from the public that the shots were DNA contaminated, that the formulas presented for approval were not the vaccines that were fraudulently delivered, that the vaccines were known to be ineffective, and that it was known the vaccines caused serious harms and even deaths – including to babies in the womb and breastfeeding infants.

A decision by the Ottawa Police to continue the prosecution against Grus could come back to haunt them as any appeals process will take years – with additional evidence and case law, and developing public opinion weighing more heavily against OPS.

2/ Prosecution Evidence during the trial indicated that Detective Grus was investigating charges of Criminal Negligence Causing Bodily Harm and Death when the Ottawa Police ordered her to stop and suspended her.

Prosecution Evidence also indicated that Ottawa Police had received a complete evidence file from Detective Grus – yet failed to launch investigations into the alleged crimes.

An appeals process will take years, with the public becoming more aware of how the Ottawa Police neglected their duty to initiate an investigation into vaccination injuries and deaths as additional evidence and case law comes to light.

3/ Departures of Key Personnel: Inspector O’Toole and Prosecutor Stewart are the two people most responsible for charging and prosecuting Detective Grus. With both no longer employed by the Ottawa Police there are doubts about the OPS’s capacity to effectively manage the case now and in the future. Their departures could complicate the current proceedings and any subsequent appeals.

Will Ottawa Police Persist With A Faltering Prosecution?

The Ottawa Police leadership now faces a critical decision: persist with a faltering prosecution riddled with internal strife and burgeoning evidence supporting Grus, or withdraw the charges to mitigate further costs and damage to the organization’s credibility—a credibility already hanging by a thread.

Chaos. Confusion. Concealment.

The refusal of both the Ottawa Police and Vanessa Stewart to inform Detective Grus or her legal team about Stewart’s status—and their stonewalling of media inquiries—transcends mere lack of transparency; it borders on obstruction.

This pattern suggests deeper issues within the OPS. Words like confusion, indecision, and chaos seem insufficient to describe the turmoil.

For over two years, multiple insider sources have revealed a critical divide within OPS senior management over the Grus case. In this light, the ousting of Inspector O’Toole and the non-renewal of Stewart’s contract signal a possible turning point in favor of Detective Grus.

The pressing challenge for OPS leadership is to devise an exit strategy from the Grus debacle. Their goal must be to minimize further embarrassment, control escalating legal expenses, and address potential liability for defense costs, which reportedly approach $400,000.

Notes

Comprehensive coverage of the Detective Grus case with links to articles and sources since March of 2022 can be found at Donald Best’s website:

https://donaldbest.ca/detective-grus-case/

Emails Mentioned in this Article

20241028 email thread OPS Media Relations

20241107 1218pm Best To Stewart OPS

20241107 1219pm Auto Reply Stewart OPS

20241107 1222pm Best To Stewart AttGen

 

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Ottawa Police Inspector Hugh O’Toole Resigns Amid Witness Tampering Accusations in Detective Grus Case

Source: Former Professional Standards Unit commander given ultimatum over emailed threat to witness… “You should retire for the good of everyone. The sooner the better.”

After allegations of Criminal Intimidation of a Witness and Obstruct Justice – Ottawa Police Inspector Hugh O’Toole resigned and now works as a lawyer at a Kemptville legal firm. (photo above)

On January 10, 2024, spectators at the internal disciplinary hearing of Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus were shocked when defense lawyers alleged that Inspector Hugh O’Toole that day committed criminal offenses against Grus, including…

  • Intimidation of a Witness
  • Obstruction of Justice

Detective Grus had been scheduled to testify that day for the first time in her defense. Her lawyers told Hearing Officer Chris Renwick that shortly before Grus was due to take the witness stand Inspector O’Toole sent her a criminally threatening email.

The lawyers read parts of the email into the court record documenting how O’Toole threatened Grus that if she testified about certain evidence and used certain exhibits, Professional Standards would re-investigate her with the obvious penalty of additional charges.

Outrage in the Court

Defense counsels Bath-Shéba van den Berg and Blair Ector were outraged and put the facts onto the record.

In almost 50 years in and around the courts, this reporter has never witnessed anything like we saw at the Grus hearing on January 10-11, 2024.

“It has come to my attention that Inspector Hugh O’Toole sent an e-mail to my client stating that she cannot rely on any OPS documents. That is witness tampering. That is intimidation. That’s obstruction.

This Tribunal should be outraged. I’m trying to hold back my seething anger. This is beyond unconscionable.”   Grus Defense Lawyer Blair Ector – January 10, 2024

“A crime committed by the head of the Professional Standards Unit of the Ottawa Police by threatening and intimidating our client before she’s due to give testimony.” Grus Defense Lawyer Bath-Shéba van den Berg – January 11, 2024

“I’m a witness to a crime. I’m an officer of the court. I’m going to make a police report right now.” Grus Defense Lawyer Blair Ector – January 11, 2024

Background

The Ottawa Police Professional Standards Unit charged Detective Helen Grus in July 2022 with conducting an ‘unauthorized investigation’ into a cluster of nine unexplained infant deaths. Detective Grus had suspicions that the vaccine status of the mothers could possibly be a factor in the deaths of breastfeeding babies.

“The Ottawa Police shut down the investigation, suspended Detective Grus, and buried the evidence she had collected.”

Hugh O’Toole oversaw the investigation, charges, and prosecution of Detective Grus – and was undoubtedly part of the illegal wiretapping of Detective Grus and her family in February 2022.

Further, when two rogue Ottawa police officers criminally revealed confidential police information to CBC reporter Shammini Yorgaretnam in March of 2022, Inspector O’Toole refused a written demand to investigate the crime.

Hugh O’Toole protected corrupt cops and covered up a crime while unleashing his unit upon Detective Grus for investigating the deaths of infants.

‘Advised’ to Retire

The history and public attention upon the Grus case meant that when Hugh O’Toole committed the criminal offenses of Intimidating a Witness and Obstructing Justice, it was (according to my internal Ottawa Police sources) the final straw. O’Toole’s position was no longer tenable, and he was ‘advised’ to retire.

According to my sources, O’Toole had been ‘on the list’ for further promotion even to Command level (Deputy Chief). Officers in charge of Professional Standards / Internal Affairs are highly trusted by the command level. It is common knowledge that such officers are considered on their way to ‘flag rank’.

Almost Deputy Chief now Criminal Defense Lawyer

But that’s all done for O’Toole – who now works as a Real Estate and Criminal Defense lawyer with the Connie Lamble Law Office, a Real Estate and Wills specialty firm. Hugh O’Toole is starting their fledgling Criminal Law practice.

No doubt prospective clients will view O’Toole’s police background as a plus, but the truth is that though he was called to the Ontario Bar in 2014, he is a ‘newbie’ at practicing defense law. Hopefully his clients will not be at a disadvantage due to his lack of defense experience in the criminal courts.

The persecution and trial of Detective Helen Grus has been marked by perjury, the exclusion of all five defense expert witnesses, withholding of evidence, and cover-ups of criminal conduct by rogue police officers including Inspector Hugh O’Toole himself.

Legendary NYPD Detective Frank Serpico said of the Hugh O’Toole cover-up in the Grus case…

“Incompetence or criminality will go to any length not to be exposed even at the cost of innocent infant lives.” Retired NYPD Detective Frank Serpico

It is therefore the height of irony that the Connie Lamble Law Office website says about Hugh O’Toole:

“With his unique background, Hugh understands the complexities of the human experience and the fundamental right to accessible legal representation and procedural fairness.” Connie Lamble Law Office

O’Toole’s Resignation No Victory

Some may view Hugh O’Toole’s forced exit from policing as a victory in getting rid of a corrupt cop who spit on the Rule of Law, illegally wiretapped Detective Grus and her family, and charged a diligent officer to cover-up vaccine deaths and injuries.

I don’t view this outcome as a victory for justice.

Hugh O’Toole escaped criminal liability for his despicable actions and landed a cushy job to supplement his excellent pension. The message to the public and to Ottawa Police officers is that the system protects its own – even to cover-ups of criminal acts.

Donald Best – July 12, 2024

Donald Best is a former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective) with over 45 years experience in law enforcement and intelligence operations in both the public and private sectors.

He is now an accredited independent journalist and broadcaster focusing human rights, law enforcement, and corruption issues.

Donald was the sole recipient of the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award, which reads in part…

“Donald Best is a former Sergeant (Detective) with the Toronto Police responsible for investigating Canadian police, lawyers, and politicians involved in organized crime, and a leading Canadian anti-corruption whistleblower and activist.

In his ongoing legal cases and public advocacy, Mr. Best has exposed corruption in the Canadian legal profession including secret orders and investigations by judges, the submission of false evidence in court by lawyers, and the failure of disciplinary bodies such as the Law Society of Ontario and the Canadian Judicial Council to investigate complaints against judges and lawyers.

Mr. Best’s tireless efforts to create integrity and accountability in the Canadian legal system make him an exemplary leader in the fight for equality before and under the law of all Canadians.”

Donald Best website: DonaldBest.CA

Donald Best X / Twitter: @DonaldBestCA

Donald Best Substack

Detective Helen Grus News Articles & Background

Mother’s Day on Parliament Hill – Honouring Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus

Courthouse Prayers for Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus

An Ottawa grandmother will spend Mother’s Day on Parliament Hill collecting messages of appreciation and encouragement to be delivered to Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus. All are invited to attend at noon, Sunday May 12th. Messages and e-cards can also be emailed to [email protected]

Meela Melnik was initially skeptical about Detective Grus when in early 2022 CBC News broke the story and claimed the officer had violated rules by initiating an ‘unauthorized’ investigation into the unexplained deaths of nine Ottawa infants.

But after paying close attention to detailed reports of the case, and attending at the hearing herself, Melnik told this reporter:

“I’m spending Mother’s Day honouring Detective Grus because of my conscience and the evidence I’ve seen at her trial. Detective Grus was doing her duty investigating these nine infant deaths.

They stopped her from asking questions. They laid charges to intimidate Grus and other police officers from investigating possible connections between the Covid vaccines and injuries and deaths. It was Detective Grus’ duty to ask these questions.

Canadians should be demanding to know why the Ottawa Police interfered with Detective Grus and stopped her investigation into infant deaths. We should also be demanding to know the full story of outside influences upon the decision to prosecute Detective Grus.”   Ottawa Grandmother Meela Melnik

Melnik describes herself as “pretty ordinary, a grey-haired grandmother”. It was obvious during our interview that she is uncomfortable with taking a public stand but feels she has a duty to alert her fellow Canadians about the Ottawa Police stopping Detective Grus from continuing her investigation into the unexplained infant deaths.

Further, her attendance at the Grus Hearing convinced Melnik that the process is unjust and biased against the officer. Melnik will be attending again when the Grus Hearing reconvenes on Monday, May 27, 2024.

“I’m a police officer; I’m there to solve and help solve if somebody dies. Especially an innocent little baby … I don’t want more babies to die. Whether it’s vaccine-related or not … I’m not okay with babies dying and not getting any answers.” Detective Helen Grus during police questioning

Detective Grus Mother’s Day Cards Available Online and at Parliament Hill

Melnik will bring pre-printed and blank Mother’s Day cards to her Mother’s Day vigil on Parliament Hill so that passersby can send a Mother’s Day message to Detective Grus.

Messages and e-cards can also be emailed to: [email protected]

These will be delivered directly to Detective on the morning of Monday, May 27, 2024 when she arrives for the continuation of her Disciplinary Hearing.

“The eternal Golden Rule of Pregnancy for millennia has been you never ever introduce a novel substance in pregnancy.” Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Fetal Medicine Physician Dr.James Thorp.

Here is the Information Poster for the Detective Grus Mother’s Day Event

Grus Mothers Day Event Parliament Hill Flier

Mother’s Day Origins and Detective Helen Grus

Meela Melnik’s poster of the Mother’s Day Event for Detective Grus quotes from the 1872 Mother’s Day Proclamation ‘Appeal to womanhood throughout the world’ by Julia Ward Howe.

Melnik says that Detective Grus is a mother who should be honoured for her integrity and strength, for doing her duty in investigating sudden infant deaths and so to trying to prevent future tragedies for parents.

Maria Gutschi: Health Canada’s change to the definition of ‘Safe and Effective’ Smells of Big Pharma Intimidation

How can they keep saying “safe” and “effective”?

Because the meaning and standards used were changed

I knew from the very beginning that criticizing the “safe” and “effective” narrative using data and facts were doomed to fail. I have spent many years convincing doctors that their safe and effective drugs are not as advertised but outcome data from studies and trials can be massaged. So you end up in the battle of the experts. So I concentrated on manufacturing, and quality and we did get some traction using this approach.

However, to get at the root cause of this narrative, we need to really understand how the national regulatory authorities actually assessed these products. My colleague David Wiseman has been following the FDA process for 3 years and dissects how the FDA went off the rails. He talks about it here:

David Wiseman on Trial Site News start at 39:45 or thereabouts

I will attempt to do the same for Health Canada.

Safe and Effective is a Term Defined in Law and Regulation

Interim Order

Canada did not have existing legislation that could be applied to authorization of a drug product in the context of a pandemic. The FDA used their existing EUA developed for a pandemic, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) used a “fast track” or accelerated pathway used many times before and just adaped to the pandemic. I think this is why the EMA’s review is the most complete.

Canada therefore, introduced a temporary emergency authorization as a new legal rule, the Interim Order (IO), for a specific one-year time period, promulgated September 20, 2020. The IO was also designed to support “intellectual property considerations” so that there would be no delay in access to COVID-19 treatments for Canadians.

“Seriously? I think there is another rabbit hole there. I worked for the patent regime in Canada as a scientific officer and this smells of intimidation by Pharma to me.”

Comparison of Interim Order to Notice of Compliance (NOC)

Here I compare in a draft document I am writing how a normal drug is assessed to receive what is called a Notice of Compliance (NOC) in order for the manufacturer to market and sell the product. This is also a ‘full approval.’ Canada does not have a separate authorization for vaccines or biologics vs regular drugs. These are all considered “drugs” under the Food and Drugs Act. The FDA grants a specific biologic authorization for biologics, vaccines and gene therapies called the Biologic License Application or BLA.

 

Do you see it?

In regulations for an NOC in C.08.002(2) you need to establish the safety of a new drug with detailed report (part 2g). And you need substantial evidence of clinical effectiveness (part 2h)

In the Interim Order the Minister MUST approve? Really? Sufficient evidence that the benefits outweigh potential risks. So no standard for establishing safety and efficacy THEN doing a benefit vs risk assessment like we do for a regular approval. Basically if a ham sandwich looked liked it did something, the Minister was required to approve.

Read more

Enlisting in the Military: A Very, Very Bad Idea

Wounded Vet: Don’t Die for Arms Industry Profits in Ukraine, China

by Fred Reed

If you are a young man wondering what to do with your life, you may consider enlisting in the military. Don’t.

Yes, the military has its appeal, or seems to. You may need a job. The uniform looks good. There can be adventure. You might get laid by Asian lovelies in foreign countries. These things have their appeal. They did for me as a young Marine. But they aren’t worth being mutilated, blinded, or spending the rest of your years in a wheel chair. This can happen. It does happen. And Washington doesn’t give a damn.

Recruiters won’t tell you of this. They are liars. They lied to me. They will lie to you. At the very least, they will talk only about good things that might happen, about college money and job training you might get but probably won’t. They will make you feel welcome. You are joining a team of brothers, they will say. You are a patriot. You are defending your country.

Don’t believe it. The US military does not defend America. The last time it did this was in 1945, at the end of World War Two. Since then, American soldiers were sent for twenty years to Afghanistan. Is Afghanistan America? No. Was it, is it, important to America? No. Then Iraq, Syria, Iraq again,and Serbia, bombing helpless cities. Iraq isn’t America. In my day – I’m an old guy – it was Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, where 63,000 Americans died, and killed huge numbers of peasants who did nothing wrong–for no reason.

Washington is now getting ready to start a war with China.

China is on the other side of the world.

Let me tell you what the military does to young men, what Washington does. Long ago I was driving a truck near the Marine base in Danang, Vietnam. A bullet came through the windshield. The glass spatter went into my eyes, filling them with blood and blinding me for, as it turned out, several months. I lay for maybe an hour beside the road until a chopper finally came to take me to the Naval Support Activity hospital. For a couple of weeks a Viet nurse gave me a large injection of penicillin every few hours because if the blood got infected, that would be it for my vision.

Across the corridor from me were two Marines whose tank had been hit by an RPG, rocket-propelled grenade. It ruptured the hydraulic lines and the hydraulic fluid had exploded into flames. The two crewmen across from me had gotten out somehow, though horribly burned. I was told they were covered with a plastic sheet that dripped with evaporation from their burns, but I don’t know.

“The other two had cooked alive, burning, burning, in agony, skin sloughing off, unable to breathe in the flames, desperately trying to find the hatch. The two across from me said they could hear them screaming. It is what the military did to them. It is what the military will do to you.”

A recruiter might tell you that I am an old guy, and things have changed. No. They have not. The military still uses tanks, rifles, land mines, bombs, flamethrowers, artillery. Aircraft carriers, important for the upcoming war with China, still carry large quantities of jet fuel and explosives. They are barbecues waiting to be lighted. You can have your bowels blown out, or burn alive, as easily now as then.

Did Vietnam have anything to do with America? No. It’s on the other side of the freaking world. Likewise Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq. So why does the military, why does our government do it?

Answer: So the arms industry can make money. And so Washington can try to control the world.

“Are you willing to die, to spend your life in a wheel chair, to wear a colostomy bag full of your own shit and never have a date because you were gut-shot so Lockheed-Martin’s stock shares will go up? Don’t do it. Don’t let the bastards use you.”

The wars never stop because the money is sweet, the profits enormous.

Washington just finished twenty years of killing in Afghanistan, meaning twenty years of juicy contracts. How did this defend America? Now we have Ukraine, so far costing taxpayers over a hundred billion dollars. Is Ukraine America? The United States is falling apart as anyone can see and Washington sends money to Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, Russians and Ukrainians, have died there, for nothing. But of course most of that money going to Ukraine is used to buy weapons from the arms companies. Follow the dollar.

For Washington, for the arms industry–they are almost the same thing–long wars in distant places are desirable because companies like Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon can keep selling the Pentagon missiles, tanks, helicopters and simple things like gasoline at jacked-up prices. War is about money. Washington cares about money. It does not care about you.

Don’t let them use you.

I’ll tell you another story. I spent about a year on the eye ward, 4B, at Bethesda Naval Hospital as it was then called, just outside of Washington. In hospital wards you see what the military really does to people. There was a guy blind because a defective rifle grenade detonated on the end of his rifle. Another fellow had taken an AK round through the jaw, shattering the bone. The fragments had to be removed, leaving the flesh where his jaw had been hanging down in a formless blob like a wet sock. He ate through a nasogastric tube going through his nose. We called him Jawless.

Military wards are full of such. The one I most remember was a young Marine from Tennessee, maybe nineteen. One side of his face was grotesque hamburger. He was stone blind. I was nearby when his high school sweetheart, maybe seventeen, came to visit him.

“Johnny…Johnny…Oh, Johnny.”

So much for the marriage, I figured. What young high school senior wants to tie herself for life to a blind horror that she will have to lead around?

“The war in Vietnam was lost, of course, but it wasn’t in vain. It made unimaginable profits for the arms industry. Why do you think American wars last so long? If America wins the war, the money stops flowing. If it loses the war, the money stops. Keep the war going, and the money flows.”

This is the military the recruiters don’t tell you about. It is the real military.

Want to know the lousy medical care the Pentagon gives the wounded? An incompetent military eye surgeon managed to destroy my remaining good eye years later. To see the kind of thing that happens, read this at the Unz Review. It will show you what you can expect.

How We Defend America

Think what, if you enlist, you will really be doing. Let’s say that you are ordered to fire artillery at some city or village. In your impact zone, a little girl of seven, hit by shell fragments, looks down in surprise as her intestines fall from her stomach, and begins crying, then screaming. This happens, frequently. What do you think hot jagged shrapnel does to a soft young belly. She holds out her arms to mommy for help, this being instinct with the very young, before collapsing from profuse bleeding. Large blood vessels are found in the abdomen. Her mother goes stark bugfuck crazy, desperate to save her daughter but watching her die. It is how we defend America, see.

This is what the military is, what it does. It is what you will be used to do, directly or indirectly.

Those in Washington who will send you to kill people you have never met, and to be mutilated, do not themselves go to war. Rich young men do not enlist. Students at Harvard and Yale do not enlist. The military preys on, takes advantage of, ordinary kids, usually high-school grads, often from the South.

If you are twenty years old, what I am about to say will be ancient history, but I ask you to think about it. The same thing is going on today.

The following men were all of military age during Vietnam, and they now rule the country or did: President George Bush II, Bill Clinton, John Bolton (of whom you have probably never heard, but a major warhawk), Biden, Trump. All avoided military service. All now want to send you to wars.

To express it clearly, they see you as suckers. Think about it.

I tell you, as one who has been there, who has seen it. Don’t let them use you.

Fred Reed started as a Navy brat born in 1945 in a coal town in West Virginia. His father was serving on the USS Franks, a destroyer in the thick of the Pacific war at places like Iwo Jima, Guam, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Throughout his school years, Reed was “the kid other kids weren’t supposed to play with.” After graduating high school he rode freight trains across the USA and Mexico until joining the US Marines out of boredom. He returned from Vietnam mostly blinded and spent a year in hospital recovering enough sight to function.

Reed became a war correspondent in the early 70s and covered wars and military conflicts in the Middle East and Asia. He was one of the last US correspondents to leave Saigon and Phnom Penh.

Later he became the Law Enforcement correspondent for the Washington times. Fred Reed is married to the perfect woman and is based in Mexico where he has lived for many years.

Fred Reed Website: Fred On Everything

Fred Reed Biography and Books

Former RCMP Union Director: Windsor Police Constable Michael Brisco Deserved A Fair Trial

Guest Column by Retired RCMP Officer & Union Director Leland Keane

“Mike Brisco deserved a FAIR trial. The tyrants in police management and the Police Commission who refused him one are unworthy of public trust.”

An open letter from Leland Keane to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission and Windsor Police Service:

From: Leland Keane
Date: Thu, Apr 4, 2024 at 8:38 PM
Subject: Support for Windsor Police Constable Mike Brisco
To: Ontario Civilian Police Commission
Cc: Windsor Police Service, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

Dear Sir or Madam,

I read about the case of Constable Mike Brisco some time ago;

Cop fined two weeks pay for $50 convoy donation asks for judicial review (Western Standard – Lee Harding)

I retired in 2019 after 32 years with the RCMP in BC, the majority of my service being in uniform and street-level policing. In provinces outside Ontario and Quebec the RCMP does the same job as our municipal and provincial brothers-in-blue.

I served on the executive of the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC) from 1996-2018 and retired as a director of that magnificent organization. I was blessed to have advocated for police and police veterans.

“The obvious injustice perpetrated against Cst. Brisco by less-than-ethical police management and pseudo-jurists at the police commission is an odious display of malicious prosecution of Brisco and by implication of any honest police officer.

The malicious prosecution of those who dared stand up to tyranny by all levels of government in this country since 2020 has and will have a very detrimental impact on our institutions and those who keep us safe at night for many years to come.”

The people involved in this prosecution and those who stood idly by at Windsor Police and the Police Commission remind me of those who stood by and watched and those who participated in Kristallnacht in 1938; cowards, tyrants and bullies.

Please remember that tyranny was internationally and publicly repudiated in 1946 at Nuremberg. Canada, to heal our society after the tyranny of 2020 which is still perpetrated by governments and agencies, will require a Nuremberg-style solution.

“Government-ordered violence perpetrated by those in uniform against the Freedom Convoy in Alberta and Ottawa continue to haunt all freedom-loving Canadians, especially those of us who kept our oaths not to obey unlawful commands.”

Those that escaped judgement at Nuremberg still faced judgement day which comes to us all.

Mike Brisco deserved a FAIR trial. The tyrants in police management and the Police Commission who refused him one are unworthy of public trust.

Mike Brisco deserved a fair shake. Instead he was punished with a 2 week rip and has suffered unthinkable personal and professional damage.

Shame on all who took part and those who stood by and watched.

God Bless and keep you Mike Brisco.

Yours truly,

Leland (Lee) Keane

RCMP (Retired)

Editor’s Note: This email received minor edits for spelling and flow.

Photo Credit: Western Standard and journalist Lee Harding.

How the Law Society of Ontario Sent an Innocent Man to Prison to Save Three Corrupt Lawyers

Ontario Solitary Confinement Prison Cell

The client most lawyers fear – and won’t represent at any price

by Donald Best (First published 2016)

There is a class of self-represented litigants that the legal profession does not talk about or even acknowledge, at least publicly. These are the people who are ready and willing to pay a lawyer, but are forced to represent themselves because the vast majority of lawyers refuse to litigate cases involving a claim of professional misconduct against another member of the Bar.

In the past year I have spoken with dozens of such individuals. I am not a lawyer, but they appear to have good civil claims against lawyers for unethical or even unlawful conduct – apparently supported by strong evidence and backed by case law. Yet these Canadians are unable to find legal representation at any price.

Some of these victims choose to self-represent, while others abandon any thoughts of seeking justice. Increasingly, self-represented litigants are assisted behind the scenes with legal research and document preparation by lawyers who are sympathetic, but fear backlash and opprobrium from the profession if they take the case themselves.

Corrupt lawyers Sebastien Kwidzinski, Gerald Ranking & Lorne Silver lied to the courts.

The perils of challenging a lawyer in court

I approached over one hundred lawyers to petition the court to overturn my conviction for contempt. This conviction resulted from a private prosecution that was led by two senior lawyers from large Bay Street firms. All refused to take my case, even as they acknowledged its validity and the strength of the evidence against the Bay Street lawyers.

In brief: I had been convicted of contempt of court in a civil matter while out of the country, and sentenced to three months in prison. My conviction in absentia was based upon the written and oral testimony of two Toronto lawyers who swore that, during a conference call with them, I had confirmed that I had received a copy of a certain court order.

Their sworn evidence also assured the court that they had served the order upon me in Ontario via courier. (The courier company however, stated that they had never received the court order from the lawyers, and no shipping documents, signature receipt, or tracking number have ever been produced by the lawyers). An affidavit by their “private investigator” provided an expert opinion that I was deliberately avoiding service – because I use a commercial mailbox as my address.

In fact, I had not received the court order, and stated this many times clearly during the conference call (as a forensically certified recording proved). Instead I asked, many times, for the lawyers to please send me a copy.

Despite this, I was held in contempt based on the lawyers’ assertion that I had received the court order and confirmed that receipt to them during the call.

Looking for representation

I returned to Canada and hoped to put the recording of the conference call and other evidence before the court. I knew that I would face prison time for contempt if I were unsuccessful.

So I searched for a lawyer to represent me.

Many of the young lawyers I approached were sympathetic and forthright, even admitting that they were ashamed to have to turn me down. They explained that they dared not take my case because they feared the professional and social sanctions that would certainly result. Some cited conflicts of interest involving past colleagues and law firms, while others explained that they regularly receive work from the large Bay Street firms, and could not afford to jeopardize that source of business.

A surprising number of lawyers told me that it was their firm’s policy not to litigate against lawyers, or to bring motions or evidence that would harm the careers of other lawyers.

“Yes, Mr. Best, the lawyers lied to the judge to convict you, but our firm simply does not handle this type of case.”

When I explained all of the above to Ontario’s Law Society of Upper Canada and asked for assistance in finding a lawyer willing to represent me, I received a form letter referring me to the list of lawyers on the Law Society’s website {the Lawyers Referral Service).

Trying to defend myself

Since no lawyer would represent me at any price, I was forced to represent myself.

The judge {the same judge who presided over the original hearing) would not listen to the conference call recording or consider any other fresh evidence that proved that I had never received the court order, and that for the lawyers to claim otherwise was perjury. The judge also refused me permission to cross-examine the lawyers and the “private investigator” all of whom provided testimony the court relied upon to convict and send me to prison.

The judge sent me to prison.

It was while I was in prison that I finally found and retained a lawyer willing to appeal my conviction.

Mv appeal: finally represented by a lawyer

Principled Lawyer Paul Slansky Represented Donald Best

I shall never forget this moment.

When my lawyer introduced himself at the appeal hearing, opposing counsel refused to shake his hand, saying that he would not shake the hand of a lawyer who filed a motion stating that a colleague had deceived the court. And so the social and professional sanctions began: against the one lawyer I found with the courage and integrity to act on his sense of duty.

I was eventually forced to abandon my appeal because of punitive costs (that I could not pay) awarded against me earlier, and returned to prison to serve the rest of my sentence {which, as a former police officer, I served in solitary confinement). No court ever heard my certified voice recordings of the phone call with the lawyers. I was never allowed to cross-examine the lawyers and other witnesses upon whose testimony I was convicted and sent to prison.

My lawyer believes that everyone deserves Access to Justice and fair legal representation – but for over one hundred other Ontario lawyers, Access to Justice apparently ends if a litigant has evidence of misconduct by a fellow member of the Bar.

Donald Best is an Access to Justice & Anti-corruption advocate. A former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective), he worked on deep-cover investigations against organized crime, corrupt police, and public officials. His website is DonaldBest.ca

University of Windsor Deletes Original Article, Cancels Author

The above article was originally published July 7, 2016 by the National Self-Represented Litigants Project at the University of Windsor Law School under the title The client most lawyers fear – and won’t represent at any price.

(The NSRLP article did not name the corrupt lawyers as this one does)

For the next seven years, the article was the #1 read article at the NSRLP website – a fact that was confirmed by both the NSRLP Director in a video presentation and in NSRLP Annual Reports.

In June of 2023, the National Self-Represented Litigants Project removed the article from its website and cancelled the author, Donald Best – removing all mention of him from the NSRLP website.

This was within a few days of Donald Best publishing a personal-website article featuring Lois Cardinal, a transsexual woman who self-identifies as:

“A sterilized Indian on a mission to save vulnerable children and young people from the predatory trans-industry that destroyed me.”

See Canada’s Largest Pharmacy Chain Quietly Deletes ‘Trans’ From Pride Month

NSRLP Executive Director Jennifer Lietch and many other members of the NSRLP refused to respond to written communications and phone messages from Donald Best – requesting the NSRLP to republish deleted article and about 50 public comments.

As of March 28, 2024, the University of Windsor Law School National Self-Represented Litigants Project is still banning and cancelling Donald Best.

Other Articles About The Corrupt Lawyers and Donald Best

December 24, 2018 – Cassels Brock website celebrates corrupt lawyer Lorne Silver who lied to jail a self-represented litigant

December 4, 2018 – Donald Best Receives the 2018 OCLA Civil Liberties Award

Vincent Gircys: Police Profession and Police Unions Self-Destructing Over Human Rights Violations, Woke Agendas

Four Years and Counting..

As a former police officer I’ve personally witnessed an abhorrent amount of suffering from those who lost their businesses, homes, and careers in the last four years. While a small minority of ultra wealthy gamed the system to the tune of billions, the vast majority of Canadians have not done well financially or otherwise – the result of tyrannical government decisions and those who supported the decisions by remaining silent.

“Beyond the financial losses – the Charter and Human Rights violations and Police Brutality are off the charts.”

What was once considered a noble profession no longer stands tall and true today. The trust has been broken with too many examples to list.

Guest article by Vincent Gircys

The result of that demise includes the loss of public trust, police morale decimated, replacement rates falling rapidly, an increase in sick time, and a lack of public interest in joining the profession. And, like every other civil service position, internal issues are contributing to the collapse.

One of the main issues is tribalism within the organizations based on hiring models that began almost 25 years ago. In an effort to comply with increasing international WEF commitments, policing organizations have accelerated the DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) component. The hiring and promoting those who scored highest in the employment and promotion processes is taking a back seat to an approach based on gender, race, and sexual preference.

The fallout from this process and others like it is the big fat lack-of-competency elephant in the room. Nobody is talking about it on the outside.

Today, police service social media accounts are lighting up with congratulatory messages celebrating the special days dedicated to some – while intentionally ignoring others. This is itself divisive and can’t be discussed by those in public service without retribution.

Discussion of divisive comments made by the Prime Minister or others in power is also taboo in our Police services. If that isn’t enough, Bill C-63 will make sure to silence the remainder.

I recently posted my thoughts to the PAO (Police Association of Ontario) on the proven value of meritocracy where performance takes precedence. I also noted the problems associated with tribalism.

PAO President Mark Baxter

PAO President Mark Baxter chose to respond, “I understand why you’re a former forensic investigator. No room for your divisive views in our police workplaces in 2024! Let’s use today to celebrate the accomplishments women have made in policing and in all workplaces, not diminish them with your 1950’s views #IWD.”

It seems Mr Baxter doesn’t actually know me, my service contributions spanning over 32 years, my awards or my experience.

What Mark Baxter knows is at all cost he needs to defend the narrative put before him – much like the Ottawa Police Service attempting to destroy Detective Helen Grus.

Detective Grus failed to adhere to the narrative and chose to ask questions regarding the sudden and unexplained deaths of infants. No mention of that woman’s courage from Mark Baxter while celebrating Women in Policing Day.

“The response toward Detective Grus has revealed just how corrupt our Police Services and Police Associations are, and how far they are willing to go to keep specific information from surfacing.”

Many working within the Police service are aware and this fact adds to the everyday stress. I started my career in 1982 at a time when my recruiter explained only the best would be hired to complete a career exceeding 30 years of experience that most could not handle.

“I don’t subscribe at all to the dark days of 50’s style policing as Mark Baxter suggests. I also don’t subscribe to the current cult beliefs of cutting off your genitals, demanding the use of gender pronouns, tampons in men’s washrooms, men in woman’s washrooms, giving up your Charter Rights, or hiring people to perform dangerous duties with less than outstanding skills.”

If I’m in need of Police Services I’m not looking at race, gender or sexual preference. I want to know that the responding police officers are the best possible.

Ultimately our cultural changes will be decided by Canadians over a much longer time period than envisioned by those pushing the Woke Cult Agendas in the Police Service and Police Unions.

Vincent Gircys

 

About Vincent Gircys

Vincent Gircys was a serving member of the Ontario Provincial Police for 32 years. As a police Constable in one of Canada’s largest police services, he was a member of the
Emergency Response Team and later became a Forensic Reconstructionist adopting the principles of science to determine contributing factors leading to death.

Vincent was a recipient of several awards for service including the distinguished Exemplary Service Medal. He retired from law enforcement in 2015.

He has been active in fighting government and police overreach, and stands against the unjust suspension of Human and Constitutional Rights.

Vincent Circys is also a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit against Canada’s financial institutions, Justin Trudeau, several Cabinet Ministers, and others who unlawfully “identified individuals, provided financial information, interfered with private property, and seized financial products, information services of the plaintiffs including but not limited to their bank accounts and credit cards.”

Editor’s Notes

This article is based upon a major X post by Vincent Gircys on March 9, 2024.

The editor, Donald Best, made changes for grammar and clarity – that have not yet been seen or approved by Vincent Gircys. If Mr. Gircys wishes any changes, I will make them and post the revision notice.

Donald Best

BREAKING: Canada’s Parliament Considers Detective Helen Grus Case

Order Paper Questions Government Health Authorities’ Influence Re Grus Investigation into Sudden Infant Deaths

MP Cathay Wagantall Demands Communications Mentioning: Deputy Chief Steven Bell, Superintendent Heather Lachine, Inspector Hugh O’Toole, Prosecutor Vanessa Stewart

The case of Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus and her investigation into a cluster of Sudden Infant Deaths in the Ottawa area is being raised in Canada’s Parliament. According to the rules, the Government must now provide a written answer within 45 days.

MP Cathay Wagantall (CPC)

Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus is charged with ‘Discreditable Conduct’ under the Ontario Police Services Act for conducting “unauthorized” investigations into the sudden deaths of nine infants. The next Hearing is on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Grus was investigating any potential connection between the vaccination status of the mothers and the sudden deaths of breastfeeding babies. Ottawa Police shut down her investigation, ordered her to stop, and charged her with an internal disciplinary charge.

My independent journalism revealed that Public Health Agency of Canada personnel sought to influence the Ottawa Police investigation of Detective Grus as early as March 2022, and even continuing after she was charged in July of 2022. (My April 27, 2023 article here)

Now a Conservative Member of Parliament is formally demanding answers about the Grus Case by placing questions on the Order Paper.

The just-published Thursday March 21, 2024, Order Paper includes the following question by MP Cathay Wagantall, Member for Yorkton-Melville, Saskatchewan…

Q-24332 — March 14, 2024 —  Mrs. Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville) — With regard to Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization and Privy Council communications in 2022:

(a) were there communications between any of the entities or their personnel with the Ottawa Police Services Board or Ottawa Police Services personnel or the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario;

(b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, was any of the communication with respect to Detective Helen Grus, stillbirths or deaths of infants under one year;

(c) if the answer to (b) is affirmative, what are the details of each communication, including the (i) date, (ii) type of communication such as memorandum, telephone conversation, fax, or email, (iii) subject, (iv) reports produced as a result of the communication, (v) names of people included or copied on the communication;

(d) were any of the named entities above or their personnel included in communications involving one or more of the following individuals, Deputy Chief Steven Bell, Superintendent Heather Lachine, Hugh O’Toole of the Professional Standards Branch, Prosecutor Vanessa Stewart, or the Ontario Coroner’s office; and

(e) if the answer to (d) is affirmative, what are the details of each communication, including the (i) date, (ii) type of communication, (iii) subject, (iv) reports produced as a result of the communication, (v) names of people included or copied on the communication?

Question Q-2433 can be found at the Parliamentary Website here.

Here is the Order Paper in pdf: ordpaper293

More Coming Soon

 

MP Cathay Wagantall

Website – CathayWagantall.CA

Twitter / X

Instagram

Nominate Detective Helen Grus for Police Hero of the Year!

Police Association of Ontario Awards – Nominations Deadline March 17, 2024

If there is one Police Officer in Ontario who deserves the Hero of the Year Award, it is Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus.

As of Monday, March 4, 2024 about 45 police officers have been nominated so far across the five award categories. The vast majority (if not all) of the nominations are submitted by a single nominator about their positive experience with the officer they nominated. This ‘single nominator per nominee’ has been the reality since the inception of the awards in 2016.

It would be unprecedented in the history of the awards if several hundred Canadians each separately nominated Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus for the ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’ Category.

Detective Helen Grus

This article contains the information you need to create and submit a credible nomination for Detective Grus according to the rules and eligibility criteria of the Police Association of Ontario.

I submitted my nomination for Detective Grus via email on Sunday, March 3, 2024. My seven-page submission, covering email, and photo of Detective Grus are attached to this article.

Feel free to entirely write your own submission from scratch, to adopt any part of my work in your submission, or to write a short nomination stating that you agree with my nomination and attaching my nomination as supporting information to your nomination.

Understand and Adhere to the Nomination Rules!

Obviously it is better to compose your nomination for Detective Grus entirely in your own words – and as we see from past awards even a paragraph or two can be enough to convince the judges to make an award.

You must, however, adhere to the nomination rules of the Hero of the Year Awards. I’ve listed them in this article as best as I can – so take the time to get it right and you’ll make a difference.

Let’s Keep Track of How Many People Nominate Detective Grus

There are several methods of submitting your nomination:

I’ll provide more details and my recommendations below, but however you choose to submit your nomination please email me a copy of your nomination and whatever submission receipt you obtain – to [email protected]

If even fifty people nominate Detective Grus and she does not receive an award – that will be a huge news story that several journalists and respected news organizations have already indicated they will cover.

But let’s also have faith in the PAO Award Judges because as you will see when you read my nomination, any police officer would favour nominations for Detective Grus.

Who Can Nominate Detective Grus?

Nominations must come from members of the public – police personnel (officers and civilians) cannot nominate each other for these awards.

Other than the restriction on active police personnel – anyone can nominate Detective Grus for the PAO Award. You don’t have to be a Canadian citizen or resident, you don’t have to live in Ontario or Canada. The rules make no residency conditions for nominators and this is typical because tourists (even from other countries) often nominate police officers for these types of awards.

You MUST include your real name, address, contact information etc sufficient to show that you are a real person, and to provide the Awards Judges with a method of contacting you.

Award Categories

The five award categories can be found here: How It Works

The only suitable category for Detective Grus is: Police Hero Honour Roll Award

“The ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’ pays homage to a police officer or civilian police service employee who has made a significant impact over the past decade.”

Your nomination MUST clearly state the category of award you are nominating Detective Grus for – so don’t forget!   Police Hero Honour Roll Award

Need To Know and Tips

Nomination Methods

The PAO PoliceHero.ca website states that nominations can be made using the “online nomination form, email, Facebook Direct Message, or Twitter Direct Message.”

There are pros and cons to each method because some provide no immediate receipt of a submission – or provide an immediate receipt but no record of the words and supporting documents submitted.

No matter which method you use to nominate Detective Grus (or any other police officer) – I advise you to compose it in Word or some other offline editor, save it, and THEN copy and paste or attach it to the nomination. You can also capture a screenshot of your submission and keep it as proof.

Not providing your true name and contact details invalidates your nomination.

Many have complained to me that they received no acknowledgement or receipt for an emailed nomination – but received an acknowledgement for an online nomination with no copy of what they posted.

Screen shots would seem to be an answer to record what you’ve done online. I use FireShot on Windows and Mac, and MovAVI Screen Recorder and the built-in ‘screenshot’ app on the Mac. Windows also has the ‘Snipping Tool’ built in.

Do It Correctly – Make Your Nomination Count!

There are rules about nominating officers for the PAO Hero of the Year Awards. Your ‘nomination’ accomplishes nothing if you only go to Twitter or Facebook and say “I nominate Helen Grus” – because your ‘nomination’ doesn’t meet the basic criteria laid out at the PAO website.

Already I see many ‘public nominations’ made as comments on the PAO Twitter-X account that will be thrown out because nominations using Twitter-X or Facebook must be submitted via Direct Message – not merely a public posting or comment. ADHERE TO THE RULES!

Checklist for Nominations

  • You must use one of the approved methods of submitting your nomination:
  • Deadline: Nominations must be submitted by end of day Sunday, March 17, 2024 (Eastern Time – Ottawa) PUT A DATE ON YOUR NOMINATION!
  • You must use your real name, address, and contact information. The online submission form requires a minimum of your first and last name, phone number, email, and postal code. Assume other nomination methods must include at least this information at a minimum.
  • You must provide Detective Helen Grus’ First and Last Name (Helen Grus), state that she serves with the Ottawa Police Service, and that she is a ‘Uniform / Sworn Officer’ (ie: a sworn police officer – not a civilian employee)
  • You must state which award category you are nominating Detective Grus for – which is recommended to be ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.
  • Submissions must include a written or verbal description as to why your nominee should be considered for the Police Association of Ontario Police Services Hero of the Year award. (In my nomination – attached – I first described Detective Grus’ career accomplishments that pre-date the Covid vaccine mandates, and then a following section on her more recent accomplishments.)
  • You should agree to and include this phrase: ‘By submitting this nomination I consent to the Police Association of Ontario posting all or part of my nomination including photography publicly on their platforms. I also consent to being contacted to provide more details.’
  • You should declare that YOU are not a serving police officer, or employee of a Police Service.
  • If using email, Twitter-X, or Facebook, you should politely request acknowledgement that your nomination has been received. The online form provides an instant acknowledgement but no record of what was received. (I have not yet received an acknowledgement of my emailed March 3, 2024 nomination and so will send a follow-up email.)
  • Submissions can include a photo of Detective Helen Grus if you have one. The below Public Domain Photo of Detective Grus was taken by me. I placed it into the public domain and give permission for you to provide it with your nomination of Detective Helen Grus.

Example Nomination for Detective Grus

Nomination Submitted by Donald Best (pdf format): PAO 2024 Nomination Detective Helen Grus Hero of the Year Award_Redacted

Covering Email (pdf format): 20240303 Grus Nomination email_Redacted

Public Domain Photo: (click for large size for downloading)

Text of Donald Best’s Covering email

From: Donald Best (email redacted)
To: [email protected]
Date Sunday, March 3rd, 2024 at 6:30 AM

Subject: Nomination: Constable Helen Grus – Ottawa Police

Dear Police Association of Ontario,

Attached please find a pdf document that is my nomination of Ottawa Police Constable (Detective) Helen Grus for the 2024 ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’, as well as a photo of Detective Grus that I took myself and placed into the public domain.

I am a member of the public and NOT a police officer.

By submitting this nomination I consent to the Police Association of Ontario posting all or part of my nomination including photography publicly on their platforms. I also consent to being contacted (by email please) to provide more details.

Please acknowledge the receipt of this emailed nomination.

Donald Best

 

Text of Donald Best’s Nomination

 

Donald Best

(Address Redacted)

(Email Redacted)

March 3, 2024

Police Association of Ontario

Via email: [email protected]

 

Nomination: Police Services Hero of the Year Award

Nominee: Ottawa Police Service Constable (Detective) Helen Grus

Category: Police Hero Honour Roll Award

 

I, Donald Best, nominate Ottawa Police Constable (Detective) Helen Grus for the Police Association of Ontario ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.

Detective Grus (Badge #1631) is now assigned to the Robbery Squad. In each posting throughout her 21-year career Helen Grus has shown exceptional dedication and diligence in her duties, as well as outstanding leadership qualities and commitment to the community. Detective Grus has been praised for her concern for victims that “exceeds all expectations”. She is “a revered investigator” – all of which her supervisors noted in her annual performance reviews to 2021. (The last annual review that is publicly available). (1)

In 2016, Detective Grus was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit (SACA). Her 2021 performance review reads in part:

“Detective Grus is a dedicated employee who puts her victims’ needs above herself. Detective Grus is well-versed in her role as an investigator in SACA. Being one of the most senior officers in the unit, Detective Grus is a wealth of knowledge and does not hesitate to assist or provide guidance to others…

Detective Grus is a revered investigator in SACA, and has a large resume of experience. I would encourage Detective Grus to use these abilities and knowledge to pursue a promotion and/or other career aspirations. SACA is lucky to have such a skilled interviewer and investigator…

Detective Grus also volunteers to assist with adult pre-charge diversion program, due to extensive experience in this realm. She dedicates a lot of her own time for this cause and maintains great contacts with our stakeholders in the community to assist with that liaison between us and our community partners…

Detective Grus does not hesitate to volunteer for new files, as well as complex ones, and Detective Grus works well in a team and demonstrates her abilities on a daily basis. Detective Grus was assigned some stranger sexual assaults of sex trade workers and collaborated with other Detectives to establish possible connections between their assigned files…

Detective Grus is very personable and works with a smile…. Detective Grus makes our clients really comfortable with the process, as well as with our organization as a whole…

Detective Grus is well respected amongst her peers in SACA for her knowledge and abilities. She continues to mentor junior officers and does not hesitate to break away from her files to assist with others…

Detective Grus has a huge sense of team working towards a similar goal to provide the best service we can for our clients… Detective Grus is self-sufficient and does not require close supervision…” (2)

As one example of the hundreds of investigations that Detective Grus self-initiated during her career – in 2017 Detective Grus initiated an investigation into an unsolved historical sex assault upon a child.

Like all Canadian police officers Detective Grus was and is authorized by law and her Oath of Office to self-initiate any investigation without notifying her supervisors or seeking their permission or direction. This is because Canada empowers each police officer to act with powerful self-autonomy compared with many other countries – to ensure that police officers and their investigations are protected from political influence and corruption.

In the 2017 case, Detective Grus examined confidential police files and began to suspect and gather evidence against Timothy Sample, a 56-year-old Personal Support Worker.

As a direct result of Detective Grus’s initiative, diligence, and exceptional investigative and interviewing skills, Timothy Sample was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl over a four-year period starting when she was 8 years old. The details of the case and Detective Grus’ role were published in the Ottawa Citizen June 6, 2019 article ‘PSW monster jailed for another child-sex crime’. (3)

The above is more than sufficient reason for the Police Association of Ontario to honour Detective Helen Grus with the 2024 ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.

There are, however, additional circumstances to further show that Detective Helen Grus acts with professional and personal integrity, with diligence, with moral courage, and with a firm commitment to her duty and her Police Oath of Office.

Detective Grus is currently defending against an internal disciplinary charge of ‘Discreditable Conduct’ for “initiating an unauthorized criminal investigation” into a cluster of unexplained infant deaths in the Ottawa area. She is charged with self-initiating an investigation – exactly as she did and was praised for in the 2017 Timothy Sample case.

Detective Grus’s current circumstances are critical to policing in Canada because the final outcome will determine whether or not individual Canadian Police Officers have the authority and duty to self-initiate investigations – or whether they must first seek permission and political approval.

Like every other Canadian Police Officer with two decades of service, Detective Grus has self-initiated hundreds of major and minor investigations during her career – without first seeking permission or notifying other officers.

The difference this time is that the cluster of sudden, unexplained infant deaths is a political hotcake, where Public Health Agency of Canada personnel are proven to have contacted and influenced the Ottawa Police – first during the internal investigation into Detective Grus, and again after Professional Standards charged Detective Grus and she was appearing before a Tribunal. (4)

As Detective Grus defends against the politically motivated charge, she also defends the right and duty of every Canadian police officer to self-initiate investigations without first seeking permission or having to bend to political influences.

Because of her commitment to her Oath of Office and Duty, for the past two years Detective Grus and her family members have been subject to acts of intimidation, and to financial and professional sanctions. In January 2024, the intimidation ramped up to include written criminal threats to Detective Grus from a senior police officer. The written threats were intended to stop Detective Grus from testifying and providing documents in her defence against the charge. The documents were likely to reveal the corruption and bullying that she has been subjected to by senior officers. (7, 8)

Despite over two years of intimidation and sanctions, Detective Helen Grus continues to defend the right and duty of every Canadian Police Officer to do their duty and uphold their oath of office without political interference.

The fact that Detective Helen Grus continues to work despite the disciplinary charge is testimony to her leadership, her incredible honour in her work, and demonstrates that the Ottawa Police Service truly values Detective Helen Grus’ contribution to policing the community.

The detailed circumstances of the charge against Detective Grus are as follows:

In early 2022, police officers in the SACA unit noticed a tripling in baby deaths which was unusual. Also unusual was that two babies had died in their mother’s arms, and another died with an enlarged heart. (5)

Like any good police officer, Detective Helen Grus started looking into the circumstances of the recent sudden infant deaths and started asking questions about whether or not the Covid-19 vaccination, being the only major variable, might be a cause.

Medical research indicated that there may be a correlation which raised a concern for public safety and so Detective Helen Grus started preparing a package to inform her chain of command. Detective Grus even called Sergeant Major Peter Danyluk of the Chief’s Office to ask if that was acceptable. She contacted Danyluk because Detective Helen Grus had been ordered in September 2021 by her immediate lower chain of command (Sergeant and Staff Sergeant) not to talk about anything in relation to covid-19, including mandates and vaccinations. (6)

On January 30, 2022, Detective Grus called the father of one of the deceased infants to inquire about the Covid-19 vaccine status of the mother.

Sworn evidence presented before an Ottawa Police Tribunal in August 2023 and January 2024 showed that the call was appreciated and cordial.

During further sworn testimony, a family member of one of the deceased infants described Detective Grus as “One of the most caring, dedicated police officers I’ve known. She’s always willing to help, willing to hear your story… she is there, she wants to help victims, she wants to help people and I believe that the police departments all over the country need more police officers like her.”

On February 4, 2022, Detective Grus was suspended for allegedly printing out a coroner’s report and for looking in the police files of sudden infant deaths. This suspension was based on a charge of insubordination and specifically for allegedly breaching an internal policy on the use of a police database of records which cannot be used for personal reasons.

The charge was later dropped as there was no evidence against Detective Grus because she was in fact, simply doing her job. During the cross-examination of prosecution witness Detective Renee Stewart at the Tribunal against Detective Grus, it was discovered that the whole printing of the coroner’s report was in fact a rumour and a total fabrication used to support the immediate suspension of Detective Grus. No one knew about the phone call to the father at that time.

In mid-March 2022, multiple unknown Ottawa Police Officers secretly and unofficially contacted CBC journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam and unlawfully provided her with confidential police information concerning the internal investigation against Detective Grus.

For reasons unknown, Yogaretnam and the CBC then issued an ultimatum to the Ottawa Police that the police had only 24 hours to inform the parents of the sudden infant deaths that Detective Grus had looked into.

The Tribunal against Detective Grus heard evidence that police officers from the Professional Standards Unit called nine families on March 25, 2022 to inform them that Detective Grus had committed a privacy breach – when in fact she had not. All this information was extremely sensitive, confidential, and subject to the Oath of Secrecy per the Police Services Act.

It is evident that the police officers involved in leaking the information to the CBC were working with CBC to defame Detective Grus, to ruin her reputation publicly, and to fabricate evidence for a discreditable conduct charge.

On March 28, 2022 and March 31, 2022, Yogaretnam and the CBC published two articles and broadcast a radio show about Detective Helen Grus – shamelessly defaming an outstanding police officer of the Ottawa Police Service, interfering with an internal police investigation, upsetting families who lost their infants, and breaching the sacred oath of confidentiality.

The Ottawa Police Professional Standards Unit refused Detective Grus’s written demand to launch a criminal investigation to determine the identities of the rogue officers who unlawfully provided confidential police information to the CBC. Instead, the Professional Standards Unit blamed Detective Grus for the embarrassment to the Ottawa Police and went on to charge Detective Grus with discreditable conduct “for bringing the reputation of the Ottawa Police Service into disrepute.” (2)

On May 12, 2022, Professional Standards investigators formally interviewed Detective Grus in a ‘compelled interview’. During the recorded interview (which was publicly played at the ongoing Tribunal Disciplinary Hearing), Detective Grus provided the Professional Standards investigators with documented evidence, including clinical studies on the Covid-19 vaccinations.

The clinical reports included some of the ‘Pfizer Documents’ that showed Pfizer knew that the experimental mRNA COVID vaccinations killed and injured babies in the womb – and the fact that the clinical trials did not include testing on pregnant and breastfeeding women as clinical subjects, it just so happened that some of the clinical subjects were pregnant at the time, and all those that the researchers followed up with had lost their babies after taking the Covid-19 vaccination. (2)

Other evidence included an affidavit of an Expert Witness Medical Doctor about the dangers to breastfeeding infants of mRNA injected mothers.

In her interview, Detective Grus mentioned that she believed that there were reasonable and probable grounds of criminality, as these clinical studies were provided to Public Health Agency Canada, and yet PHAC went on to state that the Covid-19 vaccinations were safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, contrary to the data indicating that they were in fact potentially lethal. (2)

The Professional Standards officers who received this criminal investigation file and evidence did not initiate an investigation and are in Neglect of Duty under the Police Services Act of Ontario – in my professional opinion as a former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective). This neglect is just another indication of the political motivation for the charge against Detective Grus.

At the outset of the May 12, 2022 compelled interview, the investigator stated that the Professional Standards Unit was looking into charging Detective Grus with discreditable conduct because of the CBC articles. It was only during this interview, that Detective Grus mentioned that she made the phone call to the one father on January 30, 2022. Two months later, in June 2022, the PSU decided to charge Detective Grus with discreditable conduct for the purported reasons that she made a phone call to the father and that she was interfering with another lead investigator’s case as well as undertaking an “unauthorised investigation” when she looked into sudden infant death files.

The Ottawa Police Association (the Police Union) refuses to cover the costs of the legal defense for Detective Grus, and so she has been forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to date for legal counsel to defend her right and duty to preserve life.

It is clear from the evidence presented at the Tribunal thus far, that Detective Grus is being vilified and punished for asking difficult questions, and for looking into the criminal occurrence of the decision to mandate the Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women when it was not safe to do so – and has possibly contributed to the deaths of infants.

The charge against Detective Grus is also intended to deter her and other police officers from initiating criminal investigations into the manufacture, testing, approval, procurement, and mandating of the experimental mRNA COVID vaccinations – including deterring investigations into any potential injuries and deaths.

In October 2022, the Ottawa Police ordered Detective Grus to report to the Robbery Squad to work, but with conditions to stay away from the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit. Detective Grus continues to fulfill her duties and oath of office with dedication and diligence.

Even though Detective Helen Grus faces an ongoing legal battle that is politically motivated, she maintains her loyalty and dedication to her profession and to the Ottawa Police Service.

Detective Grus has provided exemplary service, has exceeded expectations on all of her performance reports, is due for promotion to Sergeant, and has shown valour and dedication to the Ottawa Police, to the community, and to preserving life.

Detective Helen Grus is an outstanding police officer and is surely worthy of the Police Association of Ontario ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.

Yours truly,

Donald Best

 

Sources

1, 2, 5, 6 – Transcripts of the Ottawa Police Tribunal against Detective Helen Grus

3 – Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2019 – PSW ‘monster’ jailed for another child-sex crime

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0607-sample

4 – DonaldBest.ca, April 27, 2023 – Public Health Agency of Canada Personnel Influenced Ottawa Police Investigation and Charge against Detective Grus

https://donaldbest.ca/public-health-agency-of-canada-personnel-influenced-ottawa-police-investigation-and-charge-against-detective-grus/

7 – The Epoch Times, January 11, 2024 – Chaos Erupts at Hearing of Ottawa Detective as Lawyers File Report Accusing Superior of Witness Intimidation

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/chaos-erupts-in-hearing-of-ottawa-detective-as-lawyers-file-police-report-on-head-of-professional-standards-unit-5563628

8 – The Epoch Times, January 10, 2024 – Lawyers Accuse Officer of Witness Tampering, Intimidation of Detective Who Looked Into COVID Vaccine, Child Deaths

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/lawyers-accuse-officer-of-witness-tampering-intimidation-of-detective-who-looked-into-covid-vaccine-child-deaths-5562716

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