Danielle Smith defends appointment of task force led by doctor skeptical of COVID measures

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith defended on Tuesday a COVID-19 task force she created to look into deaths she said were unexplained and rumours on social media about vaccine harms, led by a physician she hand-picked because of his contrarian perspective on the pandemic.Earlier in the day, The Globe and Mail published details of the little-known task force that was given a sweeping mandate by the government to assess data used to inform pandemic decision-making. Ms. Smith, speaking publicly for the first time about the group, said she created it to ascertain a “full range” of scientific views to provide recommendations on how to better manage future pandemics.