Global Frontline Nurses & the College of Nurses of Ontario Discipline Cases

The January 6 Rally

Global Frontline Nurses (GFN) describes itself as a coalition of American and Canadian health-care workers. According to a press release issued ahead of its Washington event, the group's stated purpose was to "share insight about COVID fraud and corruption inside hospitals" — alleging, without evidence, that hospitals were misreporting COVID-19 case numbers and unnecessarily placing patients on ventilators for profit.

GFN members gathered on the Capitol steps on the morning of January 6, 2021, hours before thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to stop certification of the presidential election results. Neither Choujounian nor Nagle is reported to have taken part in the storming of the Capitol itself; their activity was limited to the earlier rally and speeches.

At the rally, GFN speakers told the crowd that vitamins, minerals, organic vegetable juice, and "ozone therapy" were effective treatments for COVID-19 — claims with no scientific support. Other named speakers included Nicole Sirotek (Nevada), Erin Marie Olszewski (Florida), Catherine Story (California), and Alex Flett (Massachusetts).

The Canadian Members

Kristen Nagle worked as a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of London Health Sciences Centre – Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, a position she had held since 2012. She had already been suspended without pay by the hospital in November 2020 for attending an anti-mask rally in London, Ontario, before the Washington trip triggered further review. She was subsequently charged by Ontario authorities for breaching provincial pandemic emergency orders in November 2020, and charged again in April 2021.

Sarah Choujounian worked as a practical nurse, most recently with a Toronto home-care agency, and had previously worked in long-term care before leaving that role in 2020. Both nurses had an established history of participating in anti-mask and anti-lockdown demonstrations prior to the D.C. trip.

Their identities were first reported publicly by Justin Ling at Vice News. Despite strict Canada–U.S. border limits on nonessential travel in place at the time, both women made it to Washington and back.

From Global Frontline Nurses to Canadian Frontline Nurses

Following the Washington trip, Choujounian and Nagle — together with Kristal Pitter, a nurse practitioner and former nursing-home inspector for Ontario's Ministry of Long-Term Care — founded Canadian Frontline Nurses (CFN), describing it as a group to "empower health-care workers who disagree with lockdown" measures. Choujounian has said CFN grew out of an earlier group she founded, Nurses Against Lockdowns.

College of Nurses of Ontario Investigations

The CNO — Ontario's nursing regulator — opened investigations into all three nurses over social media posts and public statements made during the pandemic. The allegations against Choujounian alone ran to twelve separate counts, including claims that surgical masks increase cancer risk, that the pandemic was a "hoax," and that COVID-19 vaccines were "unsafe." Pitter and Nagle were formally cautioned by the CNO over similar misinformation concerns before more serious proceedings advanced.

Choujounian's discipline hearing began in March 2023 and continued intermittently through 2024, with closing arguments held in December 2024. Hearing testimony included expert evidence disputes over vaccine terminology, PCR test cycle thresholds, and mask efficacy, with the CNO's tribunal disqualifying several of Choujounian's proposed expert witnesses. By mid-2023, CNO records indicated that none of the three nurses was entitled to practise nursing in Ontario, and all three had been terminated from their jobs "with cause."

Related CNO Discipline Cases (Broader Pattern)

The Choujounian/Nagle/Pitter cases are not isolated. Other CNO discipline proceedings involving COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or related misconduct include:

• Melissa Dore — registration revoked in 2025 after issuing more than 300 medical exemption letters for the COVID-19 vaccine to individuals who were not her patients and whom she had never assessed. The panel found her conduct "disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional" and noted she showed no remorse or insight even after a lengthy interim suspension. College of Nurses of Ontario v Dore, 2025 CanLII 82639 (ON CNO).
• Pomerleau (2024) — received a three-month suspension after faking her own COVID-19 vaccination using a saline injection; cited by the CNO panel in the Dore decision as a comparator involving a single incident rather than sustained public misconduct.
• Jody MacDonald — subject of a March 2021 CNO discipline decision. College of Nurses of Ontario v MacDonald, 2021 CanLII 131864 (ON CNO). Full allegations not yet independently verified for this page — see caveat below.

The Libel Suit and Anti-SLAPP Dismissal

In December 2021, Canadian Frontline Nurses, on behalf of Pitter, Nagle, and Choujounian, filed a $1-million libel suit against the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and Together News Inc., a small B.C.-based media outlet, alleging defamation over statements published in the fall of 2021 that referred to the nurses' conduct without naming them directly.

In December 2022, an Ontario judge dismissed the suit under the province's anti-SLAPP legislation, calling the plaintiffs' decision to sue "puzzling" and "surprising" — particularly the choice to target a small regional outlet while ignoring similar coverage by larger, "high-profile media organizations." The court's reasoning cited the CNO's own misconduct investigations, the fact all three nurses had been terminated "with cause," and extensive independent media coverage as undermining the plaintiffs' defamation claim. The nurses appealed; as of mid-2023 a reviewing court indicated the appeal had "a low chance of success."

Page compiled July 2026. Verify current CNO registration status and final Choujounian decision before publishing.