Rick Nicholls, now a former MPP who had represented the residents of his southern Ontario riding for more than a decade, was considered a shoo-in for re-election in 2022. But that all changed when a personal decision led to the governing Progressive Conservatives ejecting him from caucus in August 2021.
Mr. Nicholls had decided against being vaccinated for COVID-19 after reading reports out of the UK about vaccine injuries and deaths. He had become skeptical about the efficacy of COVID vaccines, which, like many countries, Canada began rolling out in December 2020.
“I called it the jab, or the shot,” he told The Epoch Times in an interview. A vaccine shouldn’t require multiple boosters to be effective, he added. “That’s not a vaccine.”
Mr. Nicholls, a former deputy speaker of the Ontario legislative assembly, says he has “no regrets” over refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially now that more reports have come out about adverse events caused by the vaccines.