White Coats on Wellington Street: Health Professionals and the Freedom Convoy

Jeremiah Hadwen: "a doctor for truck drivers"

On 7 February 2022, at a convoy press conference alongside organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, organizer Brigitte Belton announced: "We have a doctor for truck drivers and those that may not be able to get medical help." She said Hadwen was a general practitioner who had lost his position over COVID mandates.

He was neither. Hadwen was a third-year neurology resident at the University of Ottawa, practising under a postgraduate educational certificate that only allowed him to work under supervision in his training program. After the press conference he posted that he was "not a GP as was indicated by the Freedom Convoy's leaders", and described himself as a "Health Consultant" at his Providence Health Centre. For the convoy, he wrote, he was "operating on a donation basis."

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario hired an investigative agency. An investigator posing as a protester booked an appointment for 21 February 2022, at a $180 fee, at the Capital City Bikers' Church in Vanier. Hadwen took a medical history, examined the "patient", discussed a skin condition and high blood pressure, and gave advice on treating COVID-19. He also told the investigator the CPSO had a "tyrannical grasp" on medicine. The College later found he had given one patient a treatment plan including ivermectin.

When the College demanded his records, Hadwen refused, first citing patient consent and later his religious beliefs. In June 2022 the CPSO opened a second investigation for non-co-operation and declined to renew his certificate. In August 2023 he finally handed over records for 41 patients. The College found he had practised medicine on 30 of them, shared diagnoses with 24, and given one an injection.

On 20 June 2024 he admitted misconduct. The Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal said it was "deeply troubled" by his conduct. It ordered a reprimand, a $6,000 payment, ethics training and an eight-month suspension, after which he must reapply. His lawyer said he had "unwittingly exceeded the terms of his educational licence" on bad legal advice.

Kristen Nagle and Canadian Frontline Nurses

By February 2022 Nagle had been fired by London Health Sciences Centre and was under College of Nurses of Ontario investigation, both after her November 2020 "Freedom Rally" and her January 2021 speech in Washington (see Scrubs at the Capitol). She and Canadian Frontline Nurses took part in the Ottawa protest. Testifying later to the "National Citizens Inquiry", she said she had been pushed to the ground by a police officer when the protest was cleared.

When the government invoked the Emergencies Act on 14 February 2022, Nagle and CFN were among the first to sue. In January 2024 Justice Richard Mosley of the Federal Court agreed with the other applicants, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, that the invocation was unreasonable and breached the Charter. But he threw out Nagle's and CFN's application. They had no direct standing, he found, because the emergency orders did not affect them. He also refused them discretionary relief because they lacked "clean hands". The government's later factum said they had given evasive evidence. A news report of the ruling said the court found Nagle acted in bad faith and brought "nothing of value" to the hearings.

The Federal Court of Appeal affirmed both rulings in January 2026. In March 2026 the government sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Nagle and CFN filed their own leave application the same day, then asked Chief Justice Richard Wagner to consider stepping aside because of comments he made about the convoy in 2022. He declined in April 2026. In October 2026 the Supreme Court agreed to hear the government's appeal. We have not found a ruling on the nurses' separate application.

Eric Payne: on the stage truck

Payne is a pediatric neurologist recruited from the Mayo Clinic to the Alberta Children's Hospital and the University of Calgary shortly before the pandemic. In September 2021 he wrote a public letter to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta objecting to its vaccination expectations for physicians. On 5 February 2022, according to a convoy supporter's published account, he took the microphone on the Ottawa stage truck and told the crowd that "these lockdowns have to stop."

He later testified to the "National Citizens Inquiry" and spoke at "An Injection of Truth", an Alberta event with Byram Bridle, William Makis and Mark Trozzi. A sympathetic April 2024 column reported he had faced five complaints to the CPSA, three of them unresolved. We found no published CPSA discipline against him.

Roger Hodkinson: "the greatest hoax"

Hodkinson, a retired Edmonton pathologist, became one of the world's best-known COVID contrarians after telling an Edmonton city council committee in November 2020 that the pandemic was "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public." In February 2022 a group calling itself "Doctors Supporting the Freedom Convoy 2022" invited federal health officials, including Dr. Theresa Tam, to a "public scientific forum" at an Ottawa hotel with Hodkinson, Bridle and Paul Alexander as its panel.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta charged him over 17 statements from 2020 and 2021. In November 2024 he admitted unprofessional conduct, conceding that his attacks on other physicians, including Alberta's chief medical officer of health, breached the Code of Ethics and Professionalism. On 27 March 2025 a hearing tribunal accepted a joint submission: a caution, a CMA course on influence and advocacy, and $5,000 toward costs. His supporters called it a win because the misinformation allegations were not pursued. The Tyee later found he was repeating many of the same statements two days after the sanction.