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Wayne Lenhardt

Our next witness is going to be Aidan Coulter. So Aidan, if you could give us your full name and spell it for us, I’ll do an oath with you.

Aidan Coulter

Aidan Coulter. So that’s A-I-D-A-N C-O-U-L-T-E-R.

Wayne Lenhardt

And do you promise that the evidence you give today will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Aidan Coulter

I promise that the evidence I give today will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Wayne Lenhardt

Okay, we’re going to talk for ten minutes about the problems you had when you were about to enroll at Ryerson [University] when the mandates came into place. So you were going to enter your first year, your freshman year, at Ryerson?

Aidan Coulter

Mm-hmm.

Wayne Lenhardt

And that was in the fall of 2021, correct?

Aidan Coulter

Yes, correct.

Wayne Lenhardt

So tell us what happened.

Aidan Coulter

I had applied and gotten an acceptance letter for the Fall of 2021 semester. And then about a week or two before, that would have been July 2021, I received a response back from my application to residency and paying for residency. And they said that in order to attend residency, one would have to be fully vaccinated in order to interact with their peers and the residency community.

I did not have any intention of taking an experimental gene therapy that had at that point been untested. They said there was a form that you could fill out. And that form, ordinarily, would be for a person with a disability who is seeking a human rights accommodation. So I modified that form and sent it to them, saying that they were basically breaking various healthcare laws, so that was the personal private healthcare information act [Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act], the Nuremberg Code, and the Helsinki Declaration, among others. And saying that this request to have me have an experimental gene therapy was against the law.

They responded back saying that there was nothing that they could do about that, that I had not given them sufficient evidence or sufficient documentation. But by that point, the deadline to apply for residency had passed. I had to find very last-minute co-op housing within the Toronto area to live.

Wayne Lenhardt

And at that point, were you able to go to classes?

Aidan Coulter

Two out of my four classes were promised to be hybrid; these were classes that required a technical component because I was taking film. I was film and visual and media design. So that was film tech and silent film that required a technical component—were promised to be hybrid, meaning that there would be an in-person component. The first day of in-person classes, I attempted to attend being aware that there was a screening requirement, like an app that you had to fill out and also that you would have to test yourself.

Wayne Lenhardt

You completed one semester then, is that right?

Aidan Coulter

Yes, that is correct.

Wayne Lenhardt

And what happened during second semester?

Aidan Coulter

The second semester, or the fall semester: basically, the upshot was that, for the winter, they said that my classes were frozen and they would not provide me with automatically signing me into my coursework for Winter 2022.

Wayne Lenhardt

Okay, so you basically went back home for the second semester because of the situation.

Aidan Coulter

Yes.

Wayne Lenhardt

Okay. After you got back home, how did you fare?

Aidan Coulter

So primarily due to the stress and isolation that was inflicted upon me and not being able to access equipment during the winter and fall semesters, I had an episode of psychosis. That would have been, sorry— May 2022, I had a brief episode of psychosis, which consisted of intrusive thoughts and basically, kind of synchronicities or making connections that weren’t there.

So basically, I was in an unstable mental condition. And I went to the hospital to receive psychiatric evaluation. I was put under a Form F,

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which would mean 72 hours under the observation of an overseeing psychiatrist. And in order to be admitted into hospital, I would have had to take a PCR test.

I initially refused because the cycles that they’re normally run on mean that the likelihood of a false positive was very high. But in order to be admitted, I had to take the PCR test and I resulted in a positive—or false positive as I understand it—for COVID-19, meaning that I could have been contained for more than the 72 hours in the hospital.

Wayne Lenhardt

Okay. And you never had an episode of psychosis before?

Aidan Coulter

Prior to this, never.

Wayne Lenhardt

Great. Have you had any since, just that one?

Aidan Coulter

I was put on a Abilify, which is a mood stabilizing drug. And had a brief episode a little bit later. But since then, I have fully recovered, yes. I was on for about— It was nine months that I was on the drug.

Wayne Lenhardt

In September then of 2022, did you go back to university or college, or what did you do?

Aidan Coulter

No, I was worried about a reintroduction of the mandates since in the public consciousness, it’s still perceived to be an emergency and that the measures warranted in regards to the mandates were valid.

So I was worried about a return of the mandates. And then also due to my own mental health.

Wayne Lenhardt

In other words, you worked at a provincial park. You never did go back to Ryerson, is that right?

Aidan Coulter

No, I did not return to Ryerson due to their treatment of me.

Wayne Lenhardt

And you are going to go back to a college this September, though?

Aidan Coulter

Yes.

Wayne Lenhardt

Tell us about that.

Aidan Coulter

I applied to King’s College University in Halifax. They have a foundation year program that studies classical literature. And that sort of narrative is as close to film as I can get. I’m a bit nervous because they still have a masking policy in effect, so we will see how that goes.

<Wayne Lenhardt

Just out of curiosity, any of your Ryerson courses that you got in the first semester, are they transferable?

Aidan Coulter

Not to my understanding, no.

Wayne Lenhardt

No. Okay, at this point do the commissioners have any questions?

Is there any anything we’ve missed with respect to the problems you had during this period?

Aidan Coulter

No.

Wayne Lenhardt

Okay. On behalf of the National Citizens Inquiry, I want to thank you for coming and giving us your testimony today. And good luck in Halifax next year.

Aidan Coulter

Have a great day, thank you.

[00:08:17]

Final Review and Approval: Jodi Bruhn, September 6, 2023.

The evidence offered in this transcript is a true and faithful record of witness testimony given during the National Citizens Inquiry (NCI) hearings. The transcript was prepared by members of a team of volunteers using an “intelligent verbatim” transcription method.

For further information on the transcription process, method, and team, see the NCI website:

About these Transcripts

Aidan Coulter applied for and accepted into Ryerson for freshman year to study Film and Media, was required to be fully vaccinated to successfully apply for residency. Residency was denied based on his refusal to take experimental gene therapy.

After completing one semester, his classes were frozen in the second semester, and he could not access his courses. He returned home and suffered an episode of psychosis for the first time and placed on Abilify drug for 9 months.

Due to concerns of mandates returning, he elected to go to work. He has also applied to King’s College University and is expected to go in the next year if mandates are lifted.