I am Corinne Mori, a registered nurse who has been barred from working in BC for the past 2.5 years due to COVID vaccine mandates.
Along with a team of self-organized nurses, I am actively investigating and demanding accountability from the BC Nurses Union (BCNU). We are concerned about an apparent conflict of interest between the BC NDP government and the BCNU. Substantial taxpayer funds have been transferred to the union, which should be holding the government accountable. Despite these funds, there have been no tangible improvements in healthcare, especially in rural BC. This flow of taxpayer money has reduced the incentive of the BCNU to effectively represent its members.
BC was the only province in Canada to enforce these mandates, infringing on legally protected individual autonomy and compromising healthcare ethics. This contributed to the collapse of our public healthcare system, particularly in rural areas. Recently, I discussed with rural BC mayors the impact of ER closures due to staffing shortages. These officials were unaware of the financial transactions between the BC NDP government and the BCNU. We are formally requesting a BC Auditor General investigation into these payments to ensure taxpayer money is being used appropriately. I will forward this information to every elected official in the province, attaching documentation for review.
On July 26, Bonnie Henry rescinded the vaccine mandates for healthcare workers. While this may seem like a victory, we caution against that assumption. The BC NDP continues to act as if the law does not apply to them. New requirements for further disclosure of medical information raise additional concerns. Affected workers are still being mistreated, and these new measures could erode our rights further. Unions in BC were created to protect employees, but their structure creates a high risk for corruption. In Canada, unions are nonprofit and do not pay taxes or require transparent financial reporting. Audited financial statements only ensure conformity to reporting standards, not the accuracy of financial transactions. A forensic audit is necessary to verify the money flow.
Union membership is mandatory in Canada, with dues deducted from paychecks. For nurses, this is 2% of regular pay. This guarantees unions a customer base and removes their incentive to perform their duties. Unionized workers are governed by the Collective Agreement, effective only if enforced by the union. Complaints against the union are submitted through the BC Labor Board, not the courts. Once a union member, individual legal rights in the workplace are transferred to the union, which handles conflicts through a grievance process. The union decides whether to represent the member, with the final step involving an arbitrator.
Key figures in this situation include Bonnie Henry, Adrian Dix (Minister of Health in the BC NDP government), HEABC, BCNU, and affected nurses. Bonnie Henry’s Public Health Order did not state that healthcare workers should be terminated, only that they could not work. In BC, HEABC directed health authorities to terminate non-compliant workers, violating healthcare professionals’ responsibility to protect individual autonomy in medical decisions and the collective agreement.
After the terminations, Freedom of Information requests revealed over 20,000 COVID sick calls from double-vaccinated staff in just four health authorities within six months. By August 2022, health authorities normalized COVID, telling staff to work even if positive. Critical staffing shortages were filled by higher-paid, non-unionized travel agency nurses, costing taxpayers significantly more. We discovered substantial taxpayer money from the Ministry of Health flowing to BCNU, raising conflict of interest concerns. Last year, BCNU received $100 million from the BC NDP under conditions tied to the new collective agreement. Union executive pressure on members to vote yes was not transparent about these conditions. By Dec 31, 2023, none of this money had been disbursed to the nurse benefit fund. In 2024, $6 million was designated for a Nurse Hardship Fund, but many members in financial hardship were denied assistance.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Health and BCNU establishes annual payments totalling $850 million over three years. Despite these funds, there is no plan to provide the necessary nurses to sustain nurse-patient ratios. Pre-pandemic, there were 2,000 empty nursing positions; now, there are over 5,000. The Retiree Benefits Fund, funded by taxpayers, has disbursed less than $5 million in the last five years, with half a billion dollars sitting in BCNU’s bank account.
In a Freedom of Information request, Adrian Dix met with BCNU in 2018 to assess the Retiree Benefits Fund, which remains unused for its intended purpose. The upcoming BC Provincial election has seen Conservative BC and BC United promise to reinstate terminated healthcare workers. We believe the BC NDP rescinded the mandates as a political strategy due to declining public support.
Terminated nurses have been waiting for arbitration, which occurred in March 2023. A settlement was agreed upon by BCNU and HEABC, allowing terminated nurses to be rehired if the Public Health Order is rescinded by January 31, 2025. If rescinded by March 31, 2025, it is up to health authorities to rehire them. This settlement does not address the rights and benefits of all affected nurses, particularly those who relocated or experienced workplace abuse. We will submit a complaint to the Labor Board for failure of duty in fair representation. I will not advise individual healthcare workers on reapplying for work, as it is a personal decision. However, united resistance to coercion could have stopped these mandates.
Solutions include making union membership voluntary to ensure accountability, preventing unions from operating under a non-profit umbrella and receiving government money, and requiring scheduled forensic audits for unions holding funds for specific purposes. We need an investigation by the BC Auditor General into financial transfers from the BC NDP to BCNU. BCNU needs to transfer our representation to our own legal counsel. When Dix and Henry are fired, they should receive the same treatment we experienced.
– Corinne Mori, one of thousands of BC RN’s who were unjustly stripped of their livelihoods due to government abuse of its power. She has spent the last two years examining how our local and provincial governments are moving into a concerted effort to increase taxation to unsustainable levels, overregulate the public where bureaucracy chokes all independence and initiative, and exposing the intent to remove all rights and freedoms from the public. She is running as an Independent in the upcoming BC election, Kootenay Central riding, to ensure that the public has the choice to elect a representative who will fight to protect the rights of the people.
