B.C. RCMP investigating website selling fake mask and vaccine exemption 'certificates'

A police investigation is underway into a B.C.-based website selling phoney mask and vaccine exemption certificates, CBC has confirmed.

Officers with the Chilliwack RCMP detachment are conducting the investigation into EnableAir.com, which has advertised "authentic medical exemptions" for people who are "concerned with totalitarian mainstream narratives" related to COVID-19.

As CBC first reported in October, the website appears to be connected to Dr. Gwyllyn Goddard, who is based in Cultus Lake, an area policed by Chilliwack RCMP.

Mounties have declined to provide further information about their investigation, and Goddard did not reply to requests for comment by email or phone.

The contact information displayed on an Enable Air certificate obtained by CBC matches publicly listed contact information for Goddard and his Kelowna-based cannabis business. It was apparently signed by Dr. Stephen Malthouse, a B.C. physician facing multiple allegations of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.

Malthouse said Wednesday that he couldn't comment on the RCMP investigation, and declined to answer questions about how many exemption certificates he has signed.

Goddard's medical licence is "temporarily inactive," according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. Malthouse is currently fully licensed with no restrictions on his practice.

A copy of the same certificate has been sent to the college, and they are investigating as well.

B.C.'s Health Ministry says there is no such thing as an exemption "certificate" for either masks or vaccines, and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said that writing a fake exemption constitutes fraud. 

No refunds even though certificates 'may not work'

Most of the Enable Air website is currently offline, but the most recent version of the site included a disclaimer about the effectiveness of the certificates.

"It may not work and we cannot offer refunds due to the fact that we have no control over the extreme ignorance being programmed into the minds of the public via the mainstream media which appears to have been completely hijacked," it said.

The website also described CBC's previous stories on Enable Air as "defamatory slander."

Certificates produced through Enable Air don't offer any specifics about why the bearer should be exempted from mask and vaccine mandates, but offers a long list of possible reasons, including vaccine allergies, HIV, autism, "impaired social development," asthma, eczema, migraines and "personal belief."

Speaking to a CBC reporter in Terrace on Wednesday, Malthouse claimed he signs these exemptions because people are being "coerced" into being vaccinated.

"A lot of people are asking for exemptions to not get a very dangerous shot that does no good for them, and if they don't get it they have a threat of losing their jobs. Families are being threatened. Really, I think doctors under those circumstances should be writing exemptions," Malthouse said.

According to the latest statistics from the province, an unvaccinated British Columbian is more than four times more likely to end up in hospital with COVID-19 than someone with two shots.

Data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows that adverse reactions to the vaccines have been rare, and most often involve allergic reactions, numbness or tingling, and swelling or pain at the injection site.

Previous versions of the Enable Air website did not include a price for issuing a certificate, but warned customers to "mentally prepare for the invoice."

The site also said that 50 per cent of "post-administrative fees" will be donated to prominent Ontario anti-vaccine lawyer Rocco Galati and the Constitutional Rights Centre, an organization he founded.

Galati told CBC in the fall that he has no connection to the website. He has been in hospital for a "private medical matter" since Jan. 2, according to his organization's website.

Enable Air has previously advertised the services of five unnamed Canadian physicians.

In addition to Malthouse, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has alleged that suspended physician Dr. Rochagne Kilian provided exemptions through the website.

Meanwhile, B.C.'s college posted a notice in October in response to reports of fraudulent exemption letters circulating in the province. It includes guidance for businesses or employers about how to identify a valid exemption, and outlines a very short list of valid reasons for an exemption.