Experts
EN
Allison Inquiry | Helen Grus | Day 3 September 10th, 2026
An Ottawa police detective who investigated unexplained infant deaths describes a doubling or tripling of cases in 2021 and the two she says involved healthy babies who died in their parents' arms. She was suspended and later demoted for raising the concern with her chief, and now calls for a criminal investigation.
Helen Grus, an Ottawa police detective since 2003, spent years in general investigations and then in the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse unit, which investigates every sudden, unexplained death of a child under five. She says that in January 2022 a colleague told her the unit had seen a doubling or tripling of unexplained infant deaths, and that when she queried the police records she found six confirmed cases against a usual two or three a year. She describes two babies who, she says, were sent home healthy and died in their parents' arms, one with an enlarged heart at autopsy, and cases where standard SUDI questionnaires were incomplete or a file was closed within 24 hours. She told the police chief on January 13, 2022 that the only change she could identify was the vaccine rollout, while stressing that she could not say it was the cause. Grus says she was put on leave without pay for the police vaccine mandate, suspended days later, charged with discreditable conduct, refused a plea deal she considered inaccurate, and was found guilty and demoted for two years after a five-week tribunal she is appealing. She presents the ten binders of evidence she gathered, says five of the infants' causes of death appear on Pfizer's listed adverse events, discusses the April 2024 change to Ontario police law requiring supervisor permission to continue investigations, and calls for a criminal investigation. She closes on faith, forgiveness and healing division, and MPs and the Inquiry's organizers question her.
Helen Grus, an Ottawa police detective since 2003, spent years in general investigations and then in the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse unit, which investigates every sudden, unexplained death of a child under five. She says that in January 2022 a colleague told her the unit had seen a doubling or tripling of unexplained infant deaths, and that when she queried the police records she found six confirmed cases against a usual two or three a year. She describes two babies who, she says, were sent home healthy and died in their parents' arms, one with an enlarged heart at autopsy, and cases where standard SUDI questionnaires were incomplete or a file was closed within 24 hours. She told the police chief on January 13, 2022 that the only change she could identify was the vaccine rollout, while stressing that she could not say it was the cause. Grus says she was put on leave without pay for the police vaccine mandate, suspended days later, charged with discreditable conduct, refused a plea deal she considered inaccurate, and was found guilty and demoted for two years after a five-week tribunal she is appealing. She presents the ten binders of evidence she gathered, says five of the infants' causes of death appear on Pfizer's listed adverse events, discusses the April 2024 change to Ontario police law requiring supervisor permission to continue investigations, and calls for a criminal investigation. She closes on faith, forgiveness and healing division, and MPs and the Inquiry's organizers question her.
