Former Ontario Health Minister Pushes Flu Shot Propaganda
Christine Elliott may have resigned from government, but she hasn’t stepped away from promoting pharmaceuticals.
In a recent opinion piece published by Healthy Debate, the former Ontario Health Minister urges Canadians to get the flu shot, calling it a “deeply profound act of Canadian community care and national strength.” The message echoes the familiar COVID-era playbook: do it for others, protect the system, be a good citizen.
Sound familiar?
Recycling the COVID Playbook
Elliott’s messaging follows a worn-out script. Getting a flu shot is framed as a moral obligation, while declining is implicitly associated with putting others at risk. Emotional pressure replaces balanced risk–benefit discussion, and “community care” becomes a loyalty test.
This framing mirrors the pandemic rhetoric that justified lockdowns, mandates, and the silencing of dissent — all in the name of protecting the health-care system.
The article appears on Healthy Debate, a Canadian “health” journalism platform that accepts unsolicited submissions from physicians, academics, patients, and advocates. Anyone can submit content, and the organization states that sponsors are not involved in writing or editing articles.
However, the broader context of the platform still matters. According to Healthy Debate’s own disclosures, it is supported by the Vohra-Miller Foundation, the Ontario SPOR Support Unit, and has received past institutional support from the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine and the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. The outlet also receives donations from numerous academics and health-policy professionals, many of whom publicly push mandatory vaccination campaigns, including industry mouthpiece Timothy Caulfield.
While Healthy Debate maintains editorial independence, its content overwhelmingly promotes Big Pharma, with little space for critical or alternative perspectives. The site also features a dedicated vaccines section that consistently advances pro-vax messaging.
From Infants to Seniors — Everyone Gets a Shot
Elliott’s article doesn’t just promote flu shots for adults. She also pushes flu vaccination for children as young as six months old, citing national recommendations that call for routine flu jabs starting in infancy.
According to the figures she references, only 42% of Canadians received a flu shot during the 2023–2024 season, and just 33% of children aged six months to 17 years were vaccinated during the 2021–2022 season. Elliott frames this lower uptake as a public-health problem rather than a sign that families may be questioning the necessity, safety or effectiveness of these products.
She also encourages Canadians to receive flu shots at the same time as other injections, including those for COVID-19, RSV, pneumococcal pneumonia, and shingles — reinforcing a multi-shot approach without addressing cumulative risk, individual medical circumstances or the importance of informed consent.
Once again, the emphasis is on compliance, not choice.
When “Community Care” Ignores Real-World Results
Public messaging around the flu shot often assumes the product reliably prevents infection and protects others. Yet real-world data does not support that narrative.
A recent Cleveland Clinic study of health-care workers found that those who received the flu shot were MORE likely to test positive for influenza during the 2024–2025 season than those who did not.
Despite this, Canadians continue to be told that getting the flu shot is a civic duty and a sign of national strength — even when effectiveness varies significantly from year to year.
Informed Consent vs. Moral Pressure
Informed consent isn’t based on guilt, social pressure or patriotic slogans. It requires clear risk–benefit information, honest discussion of uncertainties and respect for personal medical choice.
Framing vaccination as a civic duty shifts the conversation away from those principles.
Christine Elliott may no longer hold office, but Ontarians still remember the harm she and Doug Ford caused with COVID lockdowns, masking and vaccine mandates. Thousands experienced adverse events, and there has been virtually no accountability or meaningful support for the injured. The fallout hasn’t disappeared just because the narrative has shifted.
Across the country, the same voices that pushed COVID measures are now pushing the flu shot — but the good news is — Canadians are no longer buying the script!
*****************************************************************************************************************