Billionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk has pledged to support a Canadian physician entangled in legal and professional challenges due to her criticism of COVID-19 lockdown measures.
Musk’s response came after Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill asked him for help on X, the social media platform he now owns.
“As one of the first Canadian MDs to oppose lockdowns on Twitter in 2020… I’ve been persecuted for four years solely due to my Tweets. Please help a fellow Canadian! ~$300k in court-ordered costs due in four days,” said Gill. She included a screenshot of a post from Musk last August vowing to support those facing hardship from employers over things they do on X.
“If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill. No limit. Please let us know,” wrote Musk in the August post.
In response to Gill’s request, Musk wrote in a reply, “We will help.”
Gill spoke about her ordeal in a podcast interview with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the creator of the Great Barrington Declaration that criticized lockdowns early in the COVID pandemic.
“I was starting to read about the devastating, catastrophic harms of the actual lockdowns. All of this compelled me to speak out in the summer of 2020 about everything that was being ignored, both in the media’s coverage and in the daily conversations that Canadians were having. I didn’t anticipate the response that I received,” said Gill.
Just weeks before the World Health Organization officially declared the pandemic, Gill said she was considered a leader in her profession — one who received positive media coverage.
“Suddenly, when I went against the narrative, I was seen as a black sheep and as someone who should be shunned,” said Gill. “Rather than engaging in any sort of debate or having any conversation about what I was trying to convey, I was being attacked with labels. The media didn’t seem interested in actually hearing why I was concerned.”
Despite even to this day not receiving a single patient complaint to her professional regulator, Gill became the target of a “very malicious campaign.”
Her social media posts resulted in having over two dozen CPSO investigators assigned to her, Gill said.
In an effort to clear her name, Gill launched a defamation lawsuit against the individuals she accused of campaigning against her.
Before any evidence was heard, an anti-SLAPP motion was brought forward. Anti-SLAPP legislation intends to prevent powerful entities from silencing “the small guy.” However, Gill said it was used in the opposite fashion against her, where well-funded defendants with big teams of lawyers succeeded in having her lawsuit dismissed.
In October 2022, an Ontario judge ruled a $1.2 million cost order against Gill. She appealed both the cost and actual decisions.
Finally, Gill was ordered to pay $300,000. She has mere weeks to pay, with a deadline at the end of March. This is money she said she doesn’t have following her legal battles.
“It’s all very daunting right now,” said Gill.
She added that she could have never imagined that the cost of speaking truth to power or being compelled to speak her conscience would lead to this.
“Everything I warned about in 2020, which at the time was based on peer-reviewed evidence, has now come to pass,” said Gill. “It’s been absolutely heart-wrenching and devastating watching the carnage unfold. And being helpless. Because it was all completely preventable.”
“It seems that advocating for the truth and advocating for that scientific evidence to come forward has come at a huge cost.”
As of Friday afternoon, Gill’s fundraiser was at $170,000 of its $300,000 goal.
