Despite a horrendous performance during the Covid pandemic, Tam still has a job.
Canadians continue to call for the removal of Dr. Theresa Tam, who continues to serve as Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer.
Tam has faced calls for removal since the early days of the pandemic. There exists a smaller, but sizable, group of angry Canadians demanding her imprisonment.
Despite the legal uncertainty of criminal charges for the controversial health official, Dr. Tam has faced genuine complaints about incompetence.
Dr. Tam has given conflicting statements on Covid-19, which confused the public and deteriorated trust in public officials. Back in January 2020, Dr. Tam stated, “there is no clear evidence that this virus is spread easily from person to person. The risk to Canadians remains low.”
That statement would later prove to be false, as the virus proved to be extremely contagious.
Dr. Tam originally told people not to wear masks, then changed course, and advised people to wear them. She later advised people to wear masks during sex, earning her ridicule across the country.
These confusing, conflicting, and often erroneous statement have been cited as reasons for the public’s distrust against the doctor.
There have been numerous calls over the years for Dr. Tam to be fired. In April of 2020, Rebel News launched a petition to have Dr. Tam fired. Unfortunately, the petition didn’t lead to her removal or resignation, but it succeeded in generating significant public attention to Dr. Tam’s missteps.
In 2023, National Post columnist Chris Selley wrote an opinion piece claiming that “public health officers are still oblivious to their self-destructed COVID credibility.”
“If your job is to give your best advice behind the scenes and then support whatever the government decides anyway, how are you anything other than an unelected cabinet minister?” wrote Selley.
UPDATE: This article was updated on Sep. 25, 2024 to include additional details. Some of the language and formatting was slightly modified. Read more about our editorial standards.
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