Public Health Agency of Canada Personnel Influenced Ottawa Police Investigation and Charge against Detective Grus

Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus is charged under the Police Services Act with ‘Discreditable Conduct’ for allegedly conducting “unauthorized” investigations into nine Sudden Infant Deaths where she sought to know the vaccine status of the mothers.

It can now be revealed that the Public Health Agency of Canada personnel and persons associated with PHAC – influenced and lobbied the Ottawa Police Service during the initial stages of the Detective Grus investigation and continued even after the officer had been charged.

The evidence includes public news media stories, public PHAC documents, and secretly (but legally) recorded phone calls with a senior PHAC manager, and a PHAC-published researcher.

This is also a sorrowful story that I wish I did not have to write – because two of the involved PHAC researchers are the mother and grandmother of one of the nine Sudden Infant Deaths that Detective Grus was investigating.

But justice requires the truth. Canadians (and Detective Grus) deserve to know the truth about the politically-motivated charge against a dedicated, diligent, and courageous police officer.

Canadians also deserve to know about the outside influences and lobbying that undoubtedly led to the Ottawa Police charging Detective Grus.

(This Article is Version #1.3 – See the Revision Table below for a record of additions or changes to the article. The article is published with placeholders in a few sections and will be updated at least once a day for the next two days. The writer is traveling under difficult circumstances and is publishing a work in progress so the main story can be known now.)

Rogue Ottawa Police Officers criminally provided confidential information to CBC journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam

Yogaretnam then actively interfered with the ongoing internal investigation.

Ottawa Police launched an internal investigation and suspended Detective Grus in early February 2022. (More extensive background and links to my Grus articles can be found here: Charge Against Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus Falling Apart)

Shortly after Detective Grus was suspended in early February, 2022 – multiple rogue Ottawa Police officers criminally provided confidential information about the ongoing investigation to CBC journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam.

Before publishing the information provided by rogue police officers, the CBC presented an ultimatum to the Ottawa Police Service on Thursday, March 24, 2022 – that the police had only 24 hours to respond before CBC broke the story. (1)

The ultimatum also contained the inherent threat that if the police hadn’t yet contacted the parents of the nine SIDS babies – the parents would learn of the investigation through the CBC News.

With that ultimatum, the CBC effectively became the director of the internal investigation – forcing the police to throw out their investigative plan and dance to the CBC’s tune.

According to news articles, the CBC ultimatum caused Ottawa Police to hurriedly contact the involved parents late on a Friday – totally upsetting the investigative plan and timeline that was undoubtedly in place. (4)

Yogaretnam and CBC knew that publishing confidential information would cause chaos with the internal investigation that was still in an early stage – but they made the ultimatum and published anyway.

The rogue Ottawa Police officers who illegally provided confidential information to Yogaretnam undoubtedly also knew and intended that their actions would cause chaos in the internal investigation. The Criminal Code Section 129 calls that ‘Obstruct Police’.

It will be interesting to learn how much effort the Ottawa Police put into investigating the rogue officers for their crimes. Presumably their identities were not discovered or we probably would have heard by now… unless, of course, the rogue officers are being protected.

No Allegation or Evidence of a Grus cover-up by Ottawa Police – Quite the Opposite

There was and is no allegation by CBC or their rogue police sources that the Ottawa Police Professional Standards Unit engaged in a cover-up of the Detective Grus case.

In fact, the evidence clearly shows that upon receiving what appears to have been an internal complaint from an officer(s) who worked with Detective Grus, the Ottawa Police immediately launched an investigation and suspended Grus. (5)

The immediate suspension proves that the complaint was taken seriously.

From my own experience as a Toronto Police Sergeant Detective, I know that the Grus case was complex – requiring a formal investigative plan and an extended timeline to conduct a reasonably detailed investigation.

First there would have been an immediate operation to seize any evidence that might be vulnerable to change or loss. This would probably include documentation and forensic examinations of computer systems or paper files that held the information Detective Grus is alleged to have accessed.

There would be examination of and probably seizure of any computers, phones, or notebooks used by Detective Grus. Her desk and personal locker would have been searched for evidence.

Call records of the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit office phones and perhaps Grus’ personal cell phone would have been ordered. If she had been issued an OPS mobile phone, those records would be ordered, and the phone would be seized and forensically examined.

The seizure of evidence would continue throughout the investigation, but the initial flurry of activity to determine what could possibly be evidence and secure it would take at least a month of full-time work if done properly.

Then there would be interviews of all Ottawa Police witnesses and potential witnesses. Certainly each member of the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit would be interviewed, but there would be other police personnel interviewed as well.

Perhaps the alleged inquiries by Detective Grus were not all made by computer or in the paper files. Perhaps she made phone calls to enlist aid from the civilian members who maintain the records. Perhaps she contacted or met with other officers who attended the initial police 911 responses to the nine sudden infant deaths.

All these people would first have to be identified and then interviewed.

And then there are the Coroner(s) and staff members. It is alleged by the rogue police quoted in the CBC articles that Detective Grus contacted the coroner or coroners associated with each child’s death. Each of these people would have to be identified and then interviewed. Any documents obtained by Grus would have to be identified and copies obtained.

Was Detective Grus interviewed or did she make a statement during the investigation? As I recall, we don’t know that detail from the news articles or the hearings that were broadcast after she was charged. (If anyone recalls something different, please leave a comment with the information.)

The Grus Internal Investigation began during Freedom Convoy

The above is probably two or three months of work by Professional Standards investigators, but considering that this happened during the Ottawa Freedom Convoy, it is reasonable that some extra time would have been required.

Only after all that knowledge foundation was complete would the investigators interview the parents of the nine Sudden Infant Deaths that Grus had investigated. Those interviews (whether personal or calls) were probably meant to be well planned and perhaps pre-booked in advance to occur all on the same day so that no parent would hear of the investigation from the news media or outside the Professional Standards Unit.

So on March 24, 2022 when the CBC and journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam interfered with the investigation and issued an ultimatum to the Ottawa Police – the Grus investigation was proceeding normally and properly according to the plan and timetable that Professional Standards created at the start.

CBC and Yogaretnam knew that the investigation was proceeding normally.

Nonetheless, using information illegally obtained from rogue Ottawa Police officers, the CBC and Shaamini Yogaretnam deliberately interfered with, influenced, and even directed the Professional Standards investigation by issuing their ultimatum.

Undeniably, the CBC’s ultimatum to the Ottawa Police profoundly and irrevocably changed the investigation. The ultimatum was also the start of a CBC campaign to vilify Detective Grus and foment public outrage against her. The campaign undoubtedly led to the charge against Detective Grus.

More on the CBC campaign of outrage later.

CBC Grus Story Breaks – Victimizing the Parents of the Deceased Infants

The CBC broke Shaamini Yogaretnam’s Grus story at 4am Monday, March 28, 2022 with an article on the CBC website. (2)

Both in her article and during her March 28, 2022 CBC Radio appearance, Yogaretnam admitted that she had multiple sources within the Ottawa Police. During the interview on ‘Ottawa Morning’, she even provided the sources’ motivation for illegally providing her with the confidential information. (3)

Yogaretnam said of her rogue police sources…

“But I did hear from sources. You know, the the unit in which Grus works is, is widely known to have some of the most sensitive detectives on the force. They deal with sexual assault and child abuse victims. You know, these are challenging emotion and trauma-heavy cases. I have no doubt that sources were motivated to speak about this because it’s, you know, to their mind, a further victimization of who are innocent people who are having the worst time in their lives, that it strikes really at the heart of what police are supposed to do.

You know, it’s a it’s a difficult subject to talk about, especially on the radio, but every single police officer has that 911 call that they attended on patrol to find an unresponsive baby and inconsolable parents. That’s not an exaggeration. They are the most vulnerable of victims and and force-wide they are treated that way.”

CBC Hypocrisy & Crocodile Tears.

If anyone is to blame for any ‘further victimization’ of parents who lost a child, it is the CBC, journalist Shammini Yogaretnam, and her rogue Ottawa Police personnel.

Detective Helen Grus had nothing to do with the contrived public spectacle and deliberately manufactured outrage fomented by the the CBC.

Detective Grus did not criminally and maliciously release confidential police information into the public domain: her corrupt police colleagues and the CBC did that.

Yogaretnam, the CBC, and their rogue police sources ALL KNEW that the OPS Grus investigation was proceeding normally and properly. They knew there was no cover-up.

Therefore their motivations had nothing to do with whistleblowing, protecting the public interest, or ensuring an unbiased and professional investigation of the allegations against Detective Helen Grus.

Yagaretnam and the CBC wanted to break a big story so badly that they didn’t care if it hurt the poor parents who lost a child, or interfered with and influenced the ongoing OPS Professional Standards investigation.

Given all the circumstances and the stories published by the CBC, I have no doubt that it was the CBC’s and Yagaretnam’s intent to foment public outrage against Detective Grus – to influence the OPS internal investigation and to pressure the Ottawa Police to charge the officer.

Further, the CBC is dependent upon over a billion dollars in government funding, plus hundreds of millions in advertising revenues from various levels of government and government-funded organizations and businesses.

The governments and businesses that provide funding and advertising revenues to the CBC are pro-vaccine. The CBC is pro-vaccine – having mandated the mRNA shots for their employees (although now suspended). CBC counts Big Pharma companies like Pfizer among its advertisers.

The CBC’s well documented promotion of government vaccine mandate policy was another motivation for the CBC publish the Grus story without regard for the ‘further victimization’ of the poor parents who lost a child.

The CBC and Yagaretnam were, and are, so obviously agenda-driven and intensely biased against Detective Grus. More on this later.

Public Health Agency of Canada Involved

On September 15, 2022, I watched the Detective Helen Grus Hearing as broadcast by the Ottawa Police on Microsoft Teams.

Also watching the hearing was a Dr. Margaret De Groh of the Public Health Agency of Canada (‘PHAC’) – whose name and agency were prominently displayed on her PHAC Teams account.

The fact that the Public Health Agency of Canada was monitoring the Grus hearing and watched the entire session was visible to everyone – including Trials Officer Superintendent Chris Renwick, the prosecutor, and the Professional Standards investigators who laid the charge.

Dr. De Groh’s PHAC account appeared close to the top of the public attendees shown onscreen. At the start of the hearing Trials Officer Renwick commented that he could see “quite a few guests and members of the public” watching the hearing. He explained that journalists were allowed to record the proceedings for their own notes but were not allowed to broadcast the recordings.

(Superintendent Renwick did not explain the difference between “guests” and “members of the public” – but as mentioned later in this article, there is evidence that the OPS Professional Standards Unit and Dr. De Groh’s daughter, Sarah DelVillano, had communications about the Detective Grus case and the severity of the penalty that OPS should suggest to the court. I have no doubt that Ottawa Police Service would have records of these communications.)

Senior PHAC Scientific Manager: Dr. Margaret De Groh

National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) Connection

A basic Internet search revealed that Dr. De Groh is the Scientific Manager / PHAC Analysis Section, and is also associated with the PHAC ‘Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research’. She is a senior PHAC official and is apparently well respected. She has published over a hundred scientific / medical research reports – many with other senior researchers and analysts at PHAC as well as university researchers. Many of Dr. De Groh’s recent reports are about COVID and its societal impact.

I also discovered that personnel from the Public Health Agency of Canada are an integral part of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) – a government-funded organization providing guidance to the Federal Government of Canada on the use of vaccines.

PHAC organizational charts support the observation that Dr. De Groh is in the chain that works with, or communicates with, members of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization – and that her work is among the body of PHAC research considered by NACI.

The NACI recommendations were critical in the Trudeau government’s declaration of mandatory vaccination as a requirement for employment, travel, etc.

NACI also made the December 12, 2020 recommendation that (with consideration):

“… COVID-19 vaccine may be offered to individuals in the following populations:

Immunosuppressed due to disease or treatment or suffering from autoimmune disorder

Pregnant or breastfeeding

Adolescents 12 to 15 years of age”

Phone Call with PHAC Senior Official Dr. Margaret De Groh

Naturally I was curious when I saw that a senior and influential official from the Public Health Agency of Canada was following the Detective Grus Hearing – a case were an experienced police detective is charged for investigating the possibility that nine Sudden Infant Deaths were related to Covid vaccines and / or vaccinated breast-feeding mothers.

On October 12, 2022 journalist Matthew Horwood of the Western Standard published an article reporting that senior PHAC official Dr. Margaret De Groh was following the Grus Case. (Detective facing charge for link between infant deaths and COVID-19 vaccines ordered back to work)

The Western Standard article reported some of my research and analysis – but neither Matthew nor I knew at the time that Dr. De Groh’s infant granddaughter was one of the nine Sudden Infant Deaths investigated by Detective Grus.

Dr. De Groh’s daughter Sarah DelVillano (who is also a PHAC-published researcher) was one of the poor parents who lost a child.

All became known when on the afternoon of October 12, 2022 at 14:16hours, I called Dr. Margaret De Groh at her published work phone number.

The certified transcript appears later in this article along with a redacted voice recording of the call – with the exception of her phone number that I redacted. The call is summarized here:

• Doctor De Groh answered the phone and identified herself by name.
• I informed Dr. De Groh that I was a journalist writing an article for the Western Standard, and that I wanted to talk about her work.
• She said she couldn’t talk without going through PHAC Media Relations, but she agreed to hear what I wanted to talk about.
• I said “I have some information that you and the Public Health Agency of Canada have been closely following the trial of Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus. And, in fact, you met with officials of the Ottawa Police Service about this…”
• Dr. De Groh denied meeting with the Ottawa Police Service and said that her interest in the case was “a personal matter”.
• When she declined to provide any further information, I said I respected that and appreciated that she talked with me. We said our good-byes respectfully and professionally.

Lawyer Sarah DelVillano Calls Donald Best – October 12, 2022 14:23 hours

Only a few minutes after my call with Doctor De Groh, I received a call from a very angry Sarah DelVillano. She did not provide her name, however it was displayed on my mobile phone as:

SARAH DELVILLANO
1 (613) (phone number redacted)
Ottawa, Ontario

I did not know anything about Sarah DelVillano at the time of the call, including that she was an law student with the Ottawa law firm of Durant Barristers.

DelVillano informed me later in our conversation that she was recording the call. I acknowledged her statement and told her to go ahead. I did not tell her that I was also recording the call.

The certified transcript appears later in this article along with a redacted voice recording of the call – with the exception of her phone number that I redacted.

Ms. DelVillano first informed me that Dr. De Groh was her mother and that I was to never call her again. She said:

“We’re in the process of seeking legal counsel to, um, deal with Helen Grus. And if you contact my family ever again, you will be also involved in legal proceedings. Do you understand me, Mr. Best?”

I asked who she was and she said:

“I am one of the mothers that was attacked, was targeted by Detective Helen Grus.”

… and again threatened to make me a party to the proceeding against Detective Grus.

I informed Ms. DelVillano that I was a journalist doing my job, and offered my sympathy as any good person would, but she angrily called me “corrupt”:

“But you also need to understand that this witch hunt that you’re going on to think that everybody’s attacking Detective Helen Grus.

Detective Helen Grus is someone similar to you, who is a corrupt police officer who’s trying to find a name in the alternate right-wing media.”

Ms. DelVillano said that it was “re-traumatizing” every time that Detective Grus “came out” about her daughter’s death.

I did not argue or contradict her, but in fact Detective Grus and her lawyer have never spoken about the case. Journalists from the CBC, Rebel News, Western Standard, Epoch Times, Toronto Sun, Ottawa Citizen, and other news media confirmed to me that they have attempted to speak with Detective Grus and her lawyer without success.

When DelVillano stated that her daughter’s death had “nothing to do with COVID vaccine”, I asked if she (Sarah DelVillano) had been vaccinated. After some back and forth evident in the transcript, she admitted that she had been vaccinated, and stated that her daughter had died “before anything to do with the vaccine was even a thing.” (More on this later)

I again expressed my sympathies, but as you will read in the transcript Ms. DelVillano rebuffed my words and stated that my coverage of the Detective Grus case “re-victimize(s) me and the other families that are involved in this process.”

The she again threatened me:

“So you have identified yourself and I have told you what is going to happen if you contact me or my family ever again. And if I find I find that you publish something on your stupid website about this phone call. I will personally make sure that it comes down. Do you understand me?”

And ended the call by saying that Detective Grus is evil:

“So I’m getting really upset now. And now it’s gonna take me days to get over this phone call. Because every time I have to deal with this I have to think about my dead baby. Stop this witch hunt. Detective Helen Grus is evil. Period.”

After demanding that I never speak to her mother and her again, later that evening DelVillano called me twice just after 8:30pm. I did not answer the phone, but again took a screenshot of the call information.

Sarah DelVillano was upset – even on the edge as is evident in the recording – and I felt and still feel very sorry for her. As someone who has lost a child myself, how could I (or anyone) not be genuinely sympathetic to a mother in distress?

But there is another side of the story that must be told. I didn’t know anything about Sarah DelVillano when she called me – but I do now.

 

Justice requires the truth. Canadians (and Detective Grus) deserve to know the truth about the politically-motivated charge against a dedicated, diligent, and courageous police officer.

Canadians also deserve to know about the outside influences and lobbying that undoubtedly led to the Ottawa Police charging Detective Grus.

Lawyer Sarah DelVillano – Actively Targeting Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus

This is the story of how Ottawa Lawyer Sarah DelVillano has from the beginning, been very much part of the outside influences and lobbying against Detective Grus – and how (so far) she has been successful in lobbying and influencing the Ottawa Police without having to reveal identity and her actions to the public.

DelVillano is a very public person on her social media accounts. For years she has openly shared her employment, interests, and personal life for all to see. In researching this article, I have collected her social media posts going back a few years.

I think that she is someone to be admired in many areas of her life. For years DelVillano worked “on the front line” as she put it to me during our talk – referring to her employment with various organizations looking after drug addicts and the poorest of society on the streets of Toronto and Ottawa.

She put herself through law school while working and raising children – and fully credits her ‘stay-at-home’ husband without whom she says she would not have been able to achieve what she has.

Tragedy – A Lost Daughter

As documented on DelVillano’s social media, she lost her one year old daughter, Hazel Wray, in a Sudden Infant Death at her Ottawa home on June 26, 2021. Hazel was one of two children and is prominently remembered on DelVillano’s twitter feed – including a photo of DelVillano at her law school graduation holding Hazel’s sister Abigail and a stuffed Elephant with ‘Hazel Wray’ embroidered on the ear.

In July 2021, DelVillano publicly shared that although meningitis was initially suspected as the cause of Hazel’s death, a Winnipeg medical lab confirmed that no meningitis was detected. DelVillano wrote: “Back to square one and the agonizing pain of not knowing why our baby left us so soon.”

DelVillano’s Campaign Against Detective Helen Grus

On March 31, 2022, the CBC published Shaamini Yogaretnam’s article ‘Grieving mother not told nature of misconduct in probe of baby’s death: lawyer’

In the article, journalist Yogaretnam called Detective Helen Grus “an anti-vaccine Ottawa police detective going rogue” – an incredibly biased declaration by the CBC that shows the agenda and purpose behind the article.

The subject of the article is the unnamed mother of one of the sudden infant deaths investigated by Detective Grus – and how the grieving mother was “re-traumatized” because Detective Grus looked into her daughter’s “still open sudden death investigation of her infant” who died in 2021 at one-year old.

“Re-traumatizing” is also the term and theme in DelVillano’s conversation with me.

The lawyer giving the interview is Sarah DelVillano’s employer Erin Durant of Durant Barristers.

I think we can put the pieces together here and acknowledge that Erin Durant’s anonymous client is Sarah DelVillano.

Lawyer Durant also made it clear that “her client is considering what her legal rights and remedies are in the case.”

This is a threat that DelVillano is considering suing Detective Grus and the Ottawa Police (as she told me in the call)… but if she’s going to sue, she should probably include the CBC, journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam, and the rogue Ottawa Police who illegally provided confidential information that led to DelVillano’s “re-traumatization”.

In the article, journalist Yogaretnam called Detective Helen Grus “an anti-vaccine Ottawa police detective going rogue” – an incredibly biased declaration by the CBC that shows the agenda and purpose behind the article.,..

The lawyer for a woman whose child’s death investigation was allegedly breached by an anti-vaccine Ottawa police detective going rogue says police only notified the grieving mother of a “vague privacy breach” on Friday afternoon.

No bias there!

It is interesting to note that not one of the other SIDS parents has surfaced in the media.

I speculate – based on my experience as a police officer investigating many family tragedies – that the vast majority of SIDS parents would not be upset by Detective Grus’ investigation of their child’s death. Rather, they would appreciate that a dedicated police officer cared enough about their child to find answers and the truth – whatever that truth might be.

DelVillano’s Anti-Grus Campaign

Sometime after the ‘re-traumatization’ article on March 31, 2022, it appears that Sarah DelVillano or her lawyer contacted the Ottawa Police to submit a ‘Victim Impact’ statement which was apparently refused. An August 17, 2022 Ottawa Citizen article by Matthew Lapierre quotes an anonymous DelVillano. The article again calls Detective Grus a ‘rogue’ police officer:

The woman is also questioning why she, as a victim who has suffered directly as a result of Grus’ alleged actions, isn’t being further included in the disciplinary process.

“How can they have this disciplinary process without assessing what impact this has had on victims and the people affected by it?” she asked. “We seem to be just an annoyance to them. If they would have had it their way, this all would have gone on without our knowledge, based on what I can observe.”

Ottawa Citizen, August 17, 2022 Bereaved mother outraged by support for Ottawa police detective charged with misconduct for alleged rogue investigation into vaccines.

It is interesting that Shaamini Yogaretnam and the CBC did not publish a similar article in August 2022 after Detective Grus appeared for her initial internal hearing. Perhaps DelVillano first approached Yogaretnam with her ‘quotes’ but for some reason the CBC was no longer interested?

The CBC has not covered the Detective Grus case since the March 31, 2022 article. Do Yogaretnam and the CBC regret they stepped way over the line that divides ‘Reporting’ from ‘Creating the News’?

I did not make the connection at the time because I had no idea who DelVillano was, but after the Grus August hearing she began to appear on my twitter feed making anti-Grus comments in response to some of my articles and tweets about the case. DelVillano did not identify herself as an involved person or a lawyer.

In one tweet, DelVillano stated:

“Helen Grus is yet another candidate for the crooked cop to extremist politician pipeline that you know so well.”

In relation to the upcoming September hearing, DelVillano stated that she had been talking with Ottawa Police Professional Standards Unit about the broadcasting of the hearing. It is also of note that some of the organizations that DelVillano works with – such as Ottawa Inner City Health – partner with the Ottawa Police Service.

Even after calling me on October 12, 2022 and prohibiting me from communicating with her, DelVillano continued to post comments on my Twitter feed. I didn’t reply to them, but found it strange that she would order me to not communicate with her, and then attempt to initiate communications with me on social media.

In 2023, DelVillano continued to be active on social media about the Grus case. At one point she tweeted to me, the Ottawa Police, and a few other readers saying that (we) should read the August 17, 2022 Ottawa Citizen article ‘Bereaved mother outraged by support for Ottawa police detective charged with misconduct for alleged rogue investigation into vaccines.’

This was in response to my article detailing research showing vaccine harms to breastfeeding Infants: ‘Detective Helen Grus proven Correct to Suspect Vaccine Harm to Breastfeeding Infants.’

 

Conflicts of Interest – Breastfeeding, Vaccines, and Infant Deaths and Injuries

Humans are complex creatures – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Long ago I learned that knowing what truly motivates a person’s actions is often impossible. In many cases, people can’t even identify their own motivations for what they do. We’ve often heard from others, and perhaps even thought ourselves on occasion: “I don’t know why I did that.”

So I am unable to know Sarah DelVillano’s motivations for targeting Detective Grus, or why she thinks that she speaks for all the parents of the nine SIDS infants that Detective Grus looked into. Certainly if other parents felt the same way as DelVillano, they could have – and probably would have – come forward anonymously as she did.

I believe, however, that there is a good chance that the other parents appreciate that Detective Grus was diligently doing her job, and that as with all police officers, she has the authority and independence to launch any investigation as she sees fit. That right and duty comes with the badge.

But none of those other parents are in the situation that Sarah DelVillano and her mother Dr. Margaret De Groh find themselves in…

• We know from DelVillano’s postings and photos on public social media that she breastfeeds her babies.
• We know that DelVillano was / is COVID vaccinated.
• We know that her mother is deeply involved with the Public Health Agency of Canada research and policies that supported and / or caused the government’s vaccine mandates and messaging that the vaccine was ‘safe and effective’ – even for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
• We know that Sarah DelVillano herself has had research published by the Public Health Agency of Canada and that she collaborated with other PHAC personnel as well as her mother.
• We know that DelVillano read my article detailing research showing that mRNA vaccines are found in breastmilk and that Official CDC VAERS data confirms serious side effects and deaths of breastfed infants whose mothers received the COVID-19 vaccine.

That is a complex scenario that might involve doubts, cross-loyalties, and personal denial that the vaccine could have had anything to do with baby Hazel’s unexplained Sudden Infant Death.

Yes, I feel deeply sorry for both Sarah DelVillano and her mother Dr. Margaret De Groh.

I also believe that the truth needs to be told of how Shaamini Yogaretnam and the CBC used DelVillano for a quick hit against Detective Helen Grus and then tossed her aside.

 

Rogue Ottawa Police – Motivation for Their Criminal Acts

(Section to be posted soon)

 

CBC’s Bias: Pro-Vaccine and Against Detective Grus

“… an anti-vaccine Ottawa police detective going rogue.”

(Section to be posted soon)

 

STORY NOTES:

(1) See CBC News article Grieving mother not told nature of misconduct in probe of baby’s death: lawyer

“CBC News went to the service for comment on the allegations against Grus on March 24 and gave Ottawa police a next-day deadline.

One of those questions was whether police had notified all of the families in the cases that were allegedly accessed by Grus.”

(2)

(3) See full transcript of the March 28, 2022 CBC Radio Yogaretnam interview in the transcript section of this article.

Selected Quotes from the Transcript

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 02:19

You keep on saying allegedly that this this story came about from sources. Why were the sources willing to speak out about this, do you think?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 02:30

Yeah, I keep saying allegedly because you know, these are allegations. No charges have yet been laid against her. But I did hear from sources. You know, the the unit in which Grus works is, is widely known to have some of the most sensitive detectives on the force. They deal with sexual assault and child abuse victims. You know, these are challenging emotion and trauma-heavy cases. I have no doubt that sources were motivated to speak about this because it’s, you know, to their mind, a further victimization of who are innocent people who are having the worst time in their lives, that it strikes really at the heart of what police are supposed to do. You know, it’s a it’s a difficult subject to talk about, especially on the radio, but every single police officer has that 911 call that they attended on patrol to find an unresponsive baby and inconsolable parents. That’s not an exaggeration. They are the most vulnerable of victims and and force-wide they are treated that way.

(4)

(5) During her the March 28, 2022 CBC Radio interview, Yogaretnam implies that her rogue police sources were from the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit. I am assuming that the original internal complaint against Grus would have the same origin.

 

Revision Table of Changes to this Article

1.0 – Published April 27, 2023 – 23:00hrs, Toronto time

1.1 – Published April 28, 2023 – 13:10hrs, Toronto time

(Corrected some paragraph line breaks. Corrected date of CBC article from March 30, 2022 to March 31, 2022. Formatted some text from plain to bold and / or italics. No words were changed. Added photo of CBC Reporter Shaamini Yogaretnam)

1.2 – Published April 28, 2012 – 15:05hrs, Toronto time

(Adds Audio Recordings for the October 12, 2022 De Groh and DelVillano phone calls, as well as the March 28, 2022 CBC Radio interview of Yogaretnam)

1.3 – Published May 5, 2023 – 10:57hrs, Toronto time

(Adds ‘Read More’ tag before verbatim transcripts)

 

Transcripts & Recordings

October 12, 2022 – Donald Best calls PHAC Dr. Margaret De Groh – REDACTED

October 12, 2022 – Sarah DelVillano calls Donald Best – REDACTED

March 28, 2022 – CBC Radio Interview of Journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam

 

 

Transcript #1
October 12, 2022 – Donald Best calls PHAC Dr. Margaret De Groh – REDACTED

Redacted MP3 Recording…

20221012 1416hrs De Groh TALK Voice005
SPEAKERS
Dr. Margaret De Groh, Donald Best
NOTE: Transcribed and Certified by Donald Best.

Donald Best 00:03
Wednesday, October 12th, 2022. 1416 hours Toronto time phoning, Dr. Margaret De Groh 613-REDACTED

De Groh 00:46
Hello Margaret De Groh

Donald Best 00:47
Hello Doctor De Groh. It’s Donald Best calling. I’m a journalist. I write for the Western Standard. I wonder if you have a few minutes to talk to me about some of your work.

De Groh 01:01
Well I can’t talk to you without going through media relations.

Donald Best 01:04
Okay, well, let me tell you what it’s all about.

De Groh 01:08
Okay

Donald Best 01:08
Yeah, let me tell you what it’s all about. I have some information that you and the Public Health Agency of Canada have been closely following the trial of Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus. And, in fact, you met with officials of the Ottawa Police Service about this, and ah,

De Groh 01:33
I did not.

Donald Best 01:35
Oh, okay.

De Groh 01:36
It’s a personal matter.

Donald Best 01:38
Okay. So,

De Groh 01:39
Okay, this has nothing to do with my work.

Donald Best 01:43
Okay, so the fact that you are, that you were following the case is personal.

De Groh 01:50
It’s on a personal level. Yes.

Donald Best 01:52
Okay. And can you tell us what your interest is in…

De Groh 01:57
No. I’m not going to.

Donald Best
Okay.

De Groh
No, I’m not going to.

De Groh 02:00
Alright,

De Groh 02:00
thank you.

Donald Best 02:01
Well I respect that. Thank you very much.

De Groh 02:03
Okay

Donald Best 02:03
I appreciate you talking to me. Thanks.

Donald Best 02:05
Okay. Bye

De Groh 02:06
bye bye

Donald Best 02:14
and that is, ah, Margaret De Groh. And there we go. It’s October 12, 2022. 1418 hours Toronto time.

 

Transcript #2
October 12, 2022 – Sarah DelVillano calls Donald Best

Redacted MP3 Recording…

20221012 1430hrs Delvillano Voice006
SPEAKERS
Sarah DelVillano, Donald Best, Donald Best Headset
NOTE: Transcribed and Certified by Donald Best

Donald Best 00:02
Oh, that’s good. That’s good. Okay. Yeah, yeah. It’s Donald Best you’re speaking with. Yes. Hello?

Sarah DelVillano 00:08
Okay. I was just calling because you just called my mother about, ah, Detective Helen Grus.

Donald Best 00:18
Yes, that’s correct.

Sarah DelVillano 00:20
Yeah. And I need you to never do that again. Okay. Um, You, ah, we’re in the process of seeking legal counsel to, um, deal with Helen Grus. And if you contact my family ever again, you will be also involved in legal proceedings. Do you understand me, Mr. Best?

Donald Best 00:45
And you are who?

Sarah DelVillano 00:48
I am one of the mothers that was attacked, was targeted by Detective Helen Grus. So I want you to be very, very clear with what I’m telling you is that if you ever communicate with me or my family ever again, you will be a party to this proceeding. Do you understand me?

Donald Best 01:14
I’m a journalist, and I certainly hear what you’re saying. I had no idea that that your mother was Dr. Helen De Groh. I had no

Sarah DelVillano 01:26
Her name is not Helen De Groh.

Donald Best 01:27
I’m sorry, Margaret De Groh.

Sarah DelVillano 01:30
I understand. I understand,

Donald Best 01:32
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah DelVillano 01:33
But you also need to understand that this witch hunt that you’re going on to think that everybody’s attacking Detective Helen Grus.

Sarah DelVillano 01:38
Detective Helen Grus is someone similar to you, who is a corrupt police officer who’s trying to find a name in the alternate right-wing media. Okay. My daughter is dead.

Donald Best 01:54
I’m so sorry to hear about that

Sarah DelVillano 01:55
And every time. No, no, you are not sorry. Because if you were sorry, you would stop siding with Detective Helen Grus, because Detective Helen Grus looked into my daughter’s death. And my daughter’s death had absolutely nothing to do with the COVID vaccine. Because there’s actually no possible way it could be with the COVID vaccine.

Donald Best 02:18
You’re not vaccinated?

Sarah DelVillano 02:19
Detective Helen Grus, Detective Helen Grus is not who you and the alternate right-wing media are making her out to be. And I’m sick every single time one of you or her or any of this comes out. It’s re-traumatizing. My daughter is dead. She is in an urn on my shelf. And it has nothing to do with the COVID vaccine. Do you understand?

Donald Best 02:50
You were not vaccinated?

Sarah DelVillano 02:53
I do. I am not saying that. I am saying that my daughter died before anything to do with the vaccine was even a thing. Okay. So you need to stop this right now.

Donald Best 03:08
Well, I’m so sorry…

Sarah DelVillano 03:10
No, you’re obviously not sorry.

Donald Best 03:12
… that your…

Sarah DelVillano 03:13
It’s the worst thing to come out of your mouth. It’s horrible. You weren’t vaccinated. I work in the frontline. I’m vaccinated. If I could have had the vaccine in my eyeball, I would have. And if I could have had the vaccine when I was pregnant with her, I would have. But I couldn’t have. Do you understand me?

Donald Best 03:30
Well, I, I don’t understand the details. But I do hear you and believe me, I

Sarah DelVillano 03:36
No! You, I don’t want to hear you’re sorry. I don’t want to hear anything else. I just want you to you to hear that. You understand that if you ever contact me or my family ever again, you will be a party to whatever’s coming for Detective Helen Grus next, legally speaking. Do you understand?

Donald Best 03:57
Well, I’m, I’m just a journalist Miss missus. I did not know I certainly will not call you

Sarah DelVillano 04:08
You are a corrupt ex-police officer. I know who you are. You are not a journalist. You are a wannabe journalist. Because if you were a journalist, you wouldn’t be following this dead end. And you wouldn’t be continuing to re-victimize me and the other families that are involved in this process. Do you understand me?

Donald Best 04:30
I certainly hear you.

Sarah DelVillano 04:32
I need, I need you to understand me.

Donald Best 04:34
Well, I, I,

Sarah DelVillano 04:36
You have best believe I am recording this phone call. I am recording this phone call. Okay?

Donald Best 04:43
Yes. I would I, I, ah, I, go ahead.

Sarah DelVillano 04:50
So you have identified yourself and I have told you what is going to happen if you contact me or my family ever again. And if I find I find that you publish something on your stupid website about this phone call. I will personally make sure that it comes down. Do you understand me?

Donald Best 05:11
I hear you. And once again, I don’t know how long it’s been since your baby died, but I, I know that…

Sarah DelVillano 05:23
Do the math. Do the math.

Donald Best 05:25
I don’t know the math. I don’t know when your baby died.

Sarah DelVillano 05:30
I thought you were a journalist. I’m leaving the phone call now. I’m not giving you any information about my personal life. But I need you not understand that. And you say you hear me? I’m going to take that as synonymous with understanding because you’re clearly not stupid. Because you’ve managed to gain this massive base of people that are stupid enough to believe in the conspiracy and the bullshit that you feel.

Sarah DelVillano 05:53
So I’m getting really upset now. And now it’s gonna take me days to get over this phone call. Because every time I have to deal with this I have to think about my dead baby. Stop this witch hunt. Detective Helen Grus is evil. Period.

Donald Best 06:17
I didn’t know she contacted you. (Three beeps indicate DelVillano ended the call) Hello?

Donald Best Headset 06:23
“Two devices connected.”

Donald Best 06:25
Okay, so this is Donald Best. That call was just received Wednesday, October 12, 2022. It’s Donald Best. It’s 1430 hours Toronto time now. And I’m going to look up my phone to see where it came from. And it came from Sarah DelVillano. That S a r a h D e l V i l l a n o. 1-613-REDACTED Ottawa, Ontario and I’ll be making a screen grab of this. Um, That’s it. Donald Best out.

 

Transcript #3
March 28, 2022 – CBC Radio Interview of Journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam

MP3 Recording

20220328 CBC Radio Audio Only
Certified by Donald Best: December 20, 2022
SPEAKERS
Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?), Shaamini Yogaretnam

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 00:00
As a veteran officer, Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus has spent time investigating child abuse, including difficult cases when a newborn suddenly dies. But now she is under investigation for allegedly trying to find out if the parents of infants who died during the pandemic had been vaccinated for COVID 19. CBC crime reporter Shaamini Yogaretnam has been looking into this story and joins me now. Good morning.

Shaamini Yogaretnam 00:27
Good morning, Hallie.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 00:28
So incredibly sensitive. When a child, a baby, dies. So difficult for the families involved. When would an officer such as Detective Grus typically get involved?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 00:41
They are really sensitive cases Hallie. A detective like Grus gets involved whenever there’s an unexpected sudden death of a child. Police are mandated by law to investigate all of those cases. That includes cases like sudden sudden infant death syndrome, where there is no criminality, but still there are requirements for police and the coroner to ultimately investigate. SIDS parents for example, are routinely told how to navigate police involvement.

Shaamini Yogaretnam 01:12
You know, yes, these cases are a check in a system so that no infant deaths escaped scrutiny. But these are cases where the most tragic time in a new parent’s life is really just exacerbated by what is, you know, a very clinical and legal process that simply has to play out by law.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 01:33
So what have you learned about these allegations against Detective Grus?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 01:39
We know that Grus was allegedly taking it upon herself to find out the vaccination status of parents whose infant had died during the pandemic. We know she was allegedly interfering in cases that weren’t hers, allegedly using her position as a police officer to attempt to get access to the information. She was allegedly doing that by seeking information directly from the coroner, who is part of that system of checks and balances that investigates all the relevant medical information. Cops aren’t doctors, right? They they they look at the law, and coroner’s look at the medicine.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 02:19
You keep on saying allegedly that this this story came about from sources. Why were the sources willing to speak out about this, do you think?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 02:30
Yeah, I keep saying allegedly because you know, these are allegations. No charges have yet been laid against her. But I did hear from sources. You know, the the unit in which Grus works is, is widely known to have some of the most sensitive detectives on the force. They deal with sexual assault and child abuse victims. You know, these are challenging emotion and trauma-heavy cases. I have no doubt that sources were motivated to speak about this because it’s, you know, to their mind, a further victimization of who are innocent people who are having the worst time in their lives, that it strikes really at the heart of what police are supposed to do. You know, it’s a it’s a difficult subject to talk about, especially on the radio, but every single police officer has that 911 call that they attended on patrol to find an unresponsive baby and inconsolable parents. That’s not an exaggeration. They are the most vulnerable of victims and and force-wide they are treated that way.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 03:37
So So what do we know about detective Grus’ views on vaccines or vaccine mandates?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 03:45
This is where the question of the questionable parts of of of Grus’ alleged conduct really merit more scrutiny Hallie. We know according to sources that she opposed mandatory mask masks and vaccines in the workplace. We know that she was one of the fewer than 10 police officers who refused to comply with the force’s mandatory vaccine policy. And that ultimately she was placed on unpaid leave as a result. So this is not a detective who who was not. You know, who was not thinking about the things that she was doing. Certainly there were personal factors that had to be considered here.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 04:27
Have you spoken to her directly?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 04:30
Grus did not reply to my efforts to speak with her. We really don’t know why yet. But given the parameters of who investigates what, we’re we’re kind of left with two options to my mind: that she was allegedly doing so for personal reasons, or that her own personal biases were allegedly affecting her police work.

Shaamini Yogaretnam 04:52
We don’t know to what end she was allegedly doing this. Was this, you know, some sort of effort to find criminality for a medical decision of parents to be vaccinated? Or, you know, was it some kind of informal data collection? But if that was the point, a data collection to what end? Right. So, so police are, are continuing to investigate and hopefully answer those, those really important questions.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 05:19
You mentioned that she may have reached out to the coroner to get information. Did the coroner provider her with that information?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 05:28
Well, if they did, they’re not telling us. The coroner would not answer any questions about their ongoing death investigations, or any ongoing internal Ottawa Police investigation.

Shaamini Yogaretnam 05:39
You know, it’s not it’s not unreasonable for a police officer to seek information for from a coroner. But it’s certainly unreasonable for one to do so on cases on which they’re not working. And it’s not so much the flow of information. That’s the problem. It’s the intent of why that information was collected. So again, hopefully, a police investigation starts to give us some of those answers.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 06:07
What is the response from OPS at this point?

Shaamini Yogaretnam 06:11
So Ottawa Police have suspended her. Um, they say that they are taking the allegations against her very seriously and are continuing to investigate Grus’ conduct. The service has suspended her with pay. But the interesting thing here is that her leave for failing to get vaccinated was unpaid. That was the sanction based on her own choices and a workplace policy. Her suspension now as an Ottawa Police officer, puts her back on the public dime. And that will be the case while the investigation against her unfolds.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 06:45
It’s a fascinating story Shaamini. Thank you so much.

Shaamini Yogaretnam 06:49
Thanks, Hallie.

Robyn Bresnahan (‘Hallie’?) 06:50
That’s CBC crime reporter Shaamini Yogaretnam. You can read Shaamini’s full story on our website cbc.ca/ottawa