(LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian teacher from Richmond, B.C., who was fired because she gave a presentation to her class that supported the 2022 trucker Freedom Convoy against COVID mandates has been given back her job by an arbitrator.

The teacher, Nicole Kowal-Seafoot, ultimately lost her job teaching grade 6 and 7 students in 2024 after showing, in 2022, students a cartoon of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with his head on a chicken body and carrying a syringe as well as a child wearing a mask that was chained to the face.

The video clip also showed messaging against COVID restrictions and jab mandates. It also had a clip of American political commentator Tucker Carlson and pictures opposing Trudeau’s COVID views.

Records show that Kowal-Seafoot started to cry during the video being shown to the class, with her noting that the Freedom Convoy led her to have hope “for the first time in two years.”

After the incident, she went on medical leave in January of 2022, while the school district conducted an internal investigation into her. The school board wanted her fired, and after an extended leave, Kowal-Seafoot was let go in 2024.

Her case went to arbitration. On April 24, 2026, labour arbitrator Ken Saunders ruled that the Kowal-Seafoot’s presentation about Trudeau broke the “most fundamental obligation not to harm learners.” However, it was noted that her apology about showing the video should have been taken at face value.

Saunders noted that Kowal-Seafoot “does not present a risk of re-offending.”

“For all these reasons, I conclude that dismissal falls on the side of an excessive response in the circumstances,” he wrote.

The decision was issued under B.C.’s Labour Relations Code.

Kowal-Seafoot had apologized for showing the video to students, saying that she let her beliefs “get in the way” of her teaching the children.

“I did harm, confuse children. I let my political and ideological beliefs get in the way of my duty of care. It was a big lapse in judgment,” she said.

“I think in this situation the content was controversial, and upon reflection, I can see how it did not fit the curricular circumstances. And my employer’s vision, mission, values, nor the well-being of my students.”

Records show that some students had claimed to be “emotionally overwhelmed” by the teacher’s video presentation, which led to complaints to parents.

In early 2022, the Freedom Convoy saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast come to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Trudeau’s federal government invoked the Emergencies Act in mid-February of that year.

After the protesters were cleared out, which was achieved through the freezing of bank accounts of those involved without a court order, as well as the physical removal and arrest of demonstrators, Trudeau revoked the Emergencies Act on February 23, 2022.

At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed Trudeau’s use of the EA.

As reported by LifeSiteNews in January, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal affirmed in a ruling that Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act was illegal.

In essence, the appeals court upheld a 2024 ruling by Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley that Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act was “not justified.”

Despite this, the Canadian government will appeal the decision.

Teacher’s husband was negatively affected by COVID shot

Kowal-Seafoot had noted that her mental health had been negatively affected by COVID mask and jab mandates, which prevented her from continuing as a figure skating coach.

She was also noted as stating that her husband had suffered from a bad adverse reaction after getting the COVID shot.

“Everything felt excessive, and targeting, and any sense of joy that I had in the profession was not there anymore,” she testified.

“It was a scary, dark time. There were a lot of compounding issues happening and a real lack of humanity.”

Saunders, in his ruling, acknowledged these mitigating circumstances and ordered that, as she had a clean record before, her job be reinstated and that her time away from work be shown as a suspension.

Recent rulings regarding those who opposed COVID shots have gone favorably for some, such as former Air Canada pilots.

In October 2021, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced unprecedented COVID-19 jab mandates for all federal workers and those in the transportation sector, saying the unjabbed would no longer be able to travel by air, boat, or train, both domestically and internationally.

This policy resulted in thousands losing their jobs or being placed on leave for non-compliance.

Trudeau had disparaged Canadians who chose not to get the COVID shots, saying that those opposing his measures were a “small, fringe minority” who hold “unacceptable views” and do not “represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other.”

LifeSiteNews has published an extensive amount of reporting on the dangers of the experimental COVID jabs, which include heart damage and blood clots.

The COVID shots have also been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children, and all have connections to cell lines derived from aborted babies.