Health Archives - Page 18 of 35

May 19, 2021

Handlers For LPC, Ford, Kenney Push (And Fail) To Continue Faulty Rapid Test Device

A story that went largely unnoticed is the announcement that Spartan Bioscience was seeking protection from its creditors. The reason is that its product, a rapid testing machine that uses PCR technology …. didn’t actually work.

While this part was reported by CBC, the larger part of the story wasn’t. And that involves the behind-the-scenes efforts to keep these kits on the market.

Of course, this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. The BC Centre for Disease Control admitted in April 2020 that the testing method couldn’t actually determine if a person was infected. Doug Ford has known since July 2020, if not sooner, that there can be 50% false positives. Jason Kenney seemed uninterested in a possible 90% false positives. See the videos at the end.

This comes in spite of extensive lobbying efforts to persuade the Federal Government, and the Ontario and Alberta Governments to continue using them.

With all that in mind, is it any wonder that a company promising rapid testing would have problems, if the underlying technology itself was faulty?

An Ottawa-based company that developed a rapid COVID-19 testing device says it has filed for creditor protection after finding an undisclosed problem with the technology.

Spartan Bioscience’s interim CEO Jennifer Ross-Carriere said through a spokesperson Tuesday that the company has paused shipments of its COVID-19 testing cube while it works to resolve the “recently-identified issue.”

Spartan’s device, which the company says is about the size of a coffee mug, has been described as a potential game-changer by health officials, with the company claiming it could deliver on-location results in less than an hour using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to get results.

The device was authorized for use by Health Canada on Jan. 22. Spartan said Health Canada’s authorization remains in place while it works with the federal agency to resolve the issue.

Now, just because a product doesn’t work, or doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, doesn’t always mean all is lost. Just send in the lobbyists and everything should be okay.

Also, Health Canada hasn’t seen fit to pull its authorization yet. Not sure exactly what it would take for that to happen.

The Federal Government, as well as the Governments of Ontario and Alberta have been lobbied by Wellington Advocacy on behalf of Spartan Bioscience. So, what do these people have do offer?

In short, connections. Lobbying has little to do with making a convincing argument. Instead, it’s about paid hustlers trying to cozy up with their former political cronies. It’s unethical, but unfortunately, legal.

Rachel Curran spent years in Harper’s Government, then moved on to other things. Interestingly, she now works with Facebook Canada. Current CPC Leader, Erin O’Toole, used to be a lobbyist for Facebook.

After managing Stephen Harper, Duncan has switched over to Provincial politics, and is a handler for Doug Ford. His profile is one of the revolving door of politics and lobbying.

Heelis has been addressed before. She has also been lobbying on behalf of Shoppers Drug Mart. Previously, she was a handler for the Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care.

Koolsbergen worked in the Harper Government, then was very involved in Kenney elected in Alberta. According to that lobby, he’s been pushing for Spartan with the Government.

Rinneard is yet another handler for Doug Ford, telling him what to think, and what to say. Doesn’t seem to have helped though.

Looking through the profiles of Wellington Advocacy, many of them are handlers and mouthpieces both for the Conservative Party of Canada, and more recently, for Jason Kenney. There are also a few who peddle influence with the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, and the B.C. Liberals.

Even after a person leaves politics, they still have the connections, which is why companies hire them. Again, this is legal, as long as it’s documented.

Do these politicians know that there are serious testing problems with the PCR technology? Yes they do. It has been made very clear to them. Nonetheless, the continue on pushing ahead with this fake pandemic.

The story from CBC is at least partially good news, as a defective product has been removed from the market. This comes in spite of the lobbying efforts, which CBC DIDN’T address. However, more needs to be done to address this scam.

People like Kenney and Ford are not leading. They are simply playing the part of leaders, and interested parties are pulling their strings. We need better people in charge.

(1) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/spartan-bioscience-creditor-protection-1.5976825
(2) http://lobbyist.oico.on.ca/Pages/Public/PublicSearch/
(3) https://www.albertalobbyistregistry.ca/
(4) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/advSrch
(5) https://canucklaw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BC-COVID19_InterpretingTesting_Results_NAT_PCR.pdf
(6) https://www.wellingtonadvocacy.com/who-we-are
(7) https://archive.is/zDCrd
(8) https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-curran-a99258109/
(9) https://www.linkedin.com/in/samueljduncan/
(10) https://archive.is/sf2uV
(11) https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieheelis/
(12) https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickkoolsbergen/
(13) https://archive.is/GIOQ0
(14) https://www.linkedin.com/in/trisha-rinneard-b1004348/
(15) https://archive.is/eyXyh
(16) https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-tennant-84030a63/
(17) https://archive.is/ZbZY8

May 19, 2021October 11, 2021

BC Pharmacy Association Funded By AstraZeneca, Partners With myDNA; Dix; Sharkawy; Tieleman; Sterilization

The B.C. Pharmacy Association has been lobbying the Provincial Government as of late. It’s interesting to see just who some of these people are, and where the money is coming from. The public at large is completely oblivious to the bigger picture.

As for the people in the above photo, they are very much connected to the B.C.P.A. We will explain all of these players.

Bonnie Henry: B.C. Provincial Health Officer
Adrian Dix: B.C. Health Minister
Abdu Sharkawy: Paid operative on speaking circuit
Bill Tieleman: Ex-B.C. Gov’t Official, current B.C.P.A. lobbyist

The B.C.P.A. describes what it does as “advocacy“, or trying to educate the public on certain health matters. Here is their own explanation:

The BC Pharmacy Association is the voice of community pharmacy. Through our organization, we collaborate and advocate for the role of community pharmacists in B.C.’s health-care system.

The Association works with stakeholders like the Ministry of Health, the College of Pharmacists of BC, the University of British Columbia, private insurance payers and other groups to raise the awareness and understanding of community pharmacy in British Columbia.

We have struck working groups on such issues as the role of pharmacists in medical assistance in dying (MAiD), Medication Review Services, Clinical Services, Residential Care and Schedule 1 and 2 medications, to name a few.

Nothing is apparently off limits, as the MAiD, or medical assistance in dying market is growing. Essentially, this is assisted suicide. At least they are honest that some drugs are lethal. There’s also an MLA outreach program, to get Provincial politicians on board with whatever is going on.

Bill Tieleman works as a lobbyist for the B.C. Pharmacy Association. His goal is getting more money for the group, and in pushing the Government to buy more of his client’s products (and products of their supporters). Tieleman is, strictly speaking, a drug lobbyist. He runs a politically themed blog as well, but there is little of substance there.

Tieleman is apparently also pretty chummy with Premier John Horgan. That’s no surprise, given his other BCNDP connections.

It gets even more convoluted because he worked in the Office of the Premier in 1996, according to mandatory disclosures. Adrian Dix was at the time Chief of Staff to Premier Glen Clark, and he later became Leader of the NDP. Dix clearly has clout, even as Health Minister, and Tieleman is an old colleague of his.

As for the idea that lobbying is harmless, it’s been disclosed that the Federal Government (or taxpayers) contributed $176,000 to the B.C.P.A. Tax money was handed over to a private organization that lobbies politicians for greater influence of the drug business.

While the B.C.P.A. likes to present itself as standing up for small pharmacists, they deliberately gloss over an important detail. The bulk of the financing actually comes from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Here, AstraZeneca and Merck are listed as major sponsors.

Abdu Sharkawy, an easily recognizable TV doctor, has spoken to the B.C.P.A. on at least 2 separate occasions. Once was March 19 of this year, and the other was on May 6. The Association clearly thought that his clout was work the money to bring him there.

Sharkawy is actually a professional speaker, and can be hired out through the National Speakers Bureau, or the NSB. According to a reply from NSB, his speaking fees for a virtual appearance runs at $12,000. That said, he’s hardly the only one to engage in such a side business.

RxOme Pharmacogenomics Canada Inc., is a joint venture between the BC Pharmacy Association and myDNA, a genetic testing and interpretation service provider. Together these companies aim to make pharmacogenomic testing and interpretation services available to Canadians through community pharmacies. Empowered with this genetic information Canadians, with their pharmacist’s help, will be able to make better informed decisions about their medications, health and wellness.

Imagine if before taking a medication, you could walk into your local pharmacy and take a test that could accurately predict whether the medication would work for you and the dosage best suited to you—all based on your DNA.

myDNA uses a simple cheek swab to analyze a patient’s genetic profile. The test is ordered by the accredited pharmacy and then the results are sent to the patient, nominated health care professionals and accessible through a secure portal.

The B.C.P.A. is partnering with myDNA, a firm that claims to be able to determine what medications would be needed in the future, based on a person’s genetic profile. It seems like there was a time not too long ago when such an idea was dismissed as baseless conspiracy theories.

Of course, this also raises serious privacy concerns like where will the data be stored, who will have access to it, and will any 3rd parties be able to purchase the data?

Also, will certain drug companies be able to get preference for certain types of disorders, or will it be shared equitably?

The B.C. Pharmacy Association promotes drugs (obviously), and doesn’t seem too concerned about the long term impacts of them. Of course, when such companies, like AstraZeneca, are your primary donors, it’s best not to rock the boat.

Thank you to whoever made this clips available. This information needs to be shared.

Previously: Jean-Marc Prevost used to be work in B.C. Public Health, alongside Henry and Dix. He left, and joined lobbying firm called Council Public Affairs. He then lobbied the B.C. Government — which he was recently a part of — on behalf of Emergent BioSolutions, the manufacturer of AstraZeneca. Also, take a look at the conflicts of interest Doug Ford has been involved with.

It’s an open question whether of not Henry and Dix had any issue with this sudden change, however it seems unlikely.

After all, Henry apparently saw no issue with putting in an exemption for indoor wine tasting, when she co-owned a winery in Keremeos.

This is just a lay opinion, but a lot of this doesn’t exactly sound legitimate. At a minimum, where are the disclosures to the public? And shouldn’t the side effects like mass sterilization be covered a little bit more?

As an update, thank you to those commenting. Always more information to flesh out. See page 233 in the 2019/2020 report.

(1) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/
(2) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=514&regId=56558364&blnk=1
(3) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/
(4) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/advocacy
(5) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/advocacy/mla-outreach-program
(6) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/conference/sponsors
(7) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/about/rxome
(8) https://www.nsb.com/speakers/abdu-sharkawy/
(9) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/conference/agenda-speakers
(10) https://www.bcpharmacy.ca/news/bcpha-2021-conference-highlights-dr-abdu-sharkawy
(11) https://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/20/MemoMistake/
(12) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Dix
(13) https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbell/
(14) https://www.keremeosreview.com/news/similkameen-winery-co-owned-by-dr-bonnie-henry/
(15) https://globalnews.ca/news/7732090/indoor-wine-tastings-bc-covid-restrictions/
(16) https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/government-finances/public-accounts/2019-20/pa-2019-20-crf-detailed-schedules-of-payments.pdf
(17) BC Public Accounts 2019 to 2020

May 18, 2021October 11, 2021

Shoppers Drug Mart Lobbyist Has Bipartisan Support From Ontario, Federal Liberals And Conservatives

Katie Heelis has recently been lobbying Ottawa on behalf of Shoppers Drug Mart. Shoppers has secured a profitable sector, administering on-the-spot vaccinations for the “coronavirus”. Also, over the counter rapid tests are coming en masse.

Also look at the date: September 2018. Wynne was voted out in June 2018, which means that Heelis became a lobbyist for Shoppers Drug Mart almost immediately after leaving Government. That appears to violate lobbying restrictions, or perhaps its okay because she’s lobbying FEDERALLY.

Previously, Heelis worked for as an “Issues Manager” for then Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care, Eric Hoskins. She describes what that involved doing:

• Develop and provide strategic advice to the Minister and Ministry on contentious issues relating to health care in Ontario
• Prepare briefing notes and research findings to brief the Minister on the latest emerging issues or advancements in the health-care sector
• Prepare the Minister for Question Period, debates, media scrums, and public events
• Develop communication plans and strategies including drafting key messages, statements, media responses and quotes to respond to health related events or issues
• Brief the Premier’s Office on contentious issues and support the Premier’s staff in preparing the Premier, including drafting briefing notes and key messages
• Lead the development of communication materials such as news releases, op-ed’s, speaking notes or speeches

In short, Heelis was a “handler” for Hoskins, telling him what to say, and managing his media affairs. The Minister, like many others, must just be a bobble-head for the cameras. Anyhow, she now has a new job as a lobbyist.

Never mind that these vaccines aren’t approved by Health Canada (only given interim authorization), and never mind the lack of long term testing. Don’t worry that the virus has never been isolated, and that PCR tests can’t determine active infection. There’s money to be made.

Ever wonder why the Conservative Party of Canada supports Trudeau, even if they whine about details? Ever wonder why the Ontario Liberal Party supports Doug Ford, and only complains about handling? Think it’s strange that they all support mass testing and vaccinating the country?

There is a simple answer for that: they all have the same handlers. Some of those handlers have also been successful in securing a lucrative venture for Shoppers Drug Mart: on the spot injections.

Press Progress did a story in march about ties between the Ontario “pandemic expert” and a lobbying firm called Santis Health. It’s definitely worth a read. Not only did Jane Philpott’s staffer become a lobbyist for Santis Health, but Philpott herself supports the mass vaccination agenda.

Now, if you have any doubt that they are all on the same side, consider the staff and respective profiles from the people at Ensight Canada. All from one firm, and not even a large one. There are ties to both Ontario and Liberals and Conservatives, and to Federal Liberals and Conservatives.

Andrea Ernesaks: She was media relations and press secretary for (then) Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. Secretary for media coverage on ON Liberal 2018 campaign.
Katie Heelis: “Issues Manager” or handler for Eric Hoskins, then Minister for Health and Long Term Care under Kathleen Wynne.
Nivitha Jeyakumar: Worked Federally for both B.C. and Ontario Liberal candidates, trying to get them elected to office.
Colin MacDonald: Helped run a candidate for Ontario Liberal Leadership race in 20012/2013, and Policy Advisor for several Cabinet Ministers.
Jesse Shea: Ties to both Ontario and Federal Liberals, now works for new Ontario Liberal Leader, Steven Del Duca and handling his new role.

Philippe Gervais: Involved in 2006 campaign which put Stephen Harper in office, works behind the scenes in U.S. elections as well.
Jason Lietaer: Worked as Liason (whatever that is) between Conservative Party of Canada Caucus, and the Prime Minister’s Office. Also served in Mike Harris’ ONPC Government.
Dennis Matthews: Worked in Harper Government starting in 2006, managing Government advertising, helped campaign to make Doug Ford Ontario Premier in 2018.
Semhar Tekeste: Handler for Cabinet Ministers at the federal level, including Gordon O’Connor, Shelly Glover, and Greg Rickford. Media relations during 2015 election, then outreach for Andrew Scheer.
Matt Triemestra: Long time staffer for Conservative Party of Canada, including Members of Parliament, such as Jason Kenney, Rob Moore and Colin Carrie.

Do you get it now? It doesn’t matter which Party is in power, since the same lobbyists control both sides. The agenda still goes ahead, regardless of which puppet sits at the head of the table. Had Wynne been re-elected in 2018, it’s doubtful she would have been much different.

Just for the sake of variety, there is an NDP operative, Tyler Downey, who works with the firm. He must be the diversity hire for Ensight.

A few more firms worth looking into. These are people who control our politicians and media. Think you’re voting of an MLA, MPP, or MP? That’s not the case at all.

None of this gets reported in the mainstream new in Canada due largely to lobbyists being embedded with them. FOr a specific example, Jaime Watt was a long term guest on Power and Politics with Evan Solomon. In fact, several members of Ensight have significant media connections.

How does any of this help advance Canadian interests?

May 17, 2021October 11, 2021

Another Ford Campaigner Now A Lobbyist, This Time For AstraZeneca; Rubicon Strategy

Back we go with the pharmaceutical lobbying in Ontario. This time, it’s AstraZeneca that is inappropriately using its political influence in order to peddle their drugs. Ever wonder why Ford insists on maintaining martial law until everyone is vaccinated? Look at who he’s been talking to.

The Ontario Lobbying Registry is open to the public. Anyone can search it, and for any reason. It’s particularly useful in determining who politicians have been talking to, on whose behalf, and on what subject matter. It really can be a gold mine if used properly.

As a war room operative she helped elect Doug Ford as Premier of Ontario. As a Chief of Staff in Premier Ford’s government, Sarah built an impressive network of peers, and successfully managed communications on a number of contentious files. If you need something at Queen’s Park, Sarah knows who to talk to and how to get it done.

Meet Sarah Letersky. She helped get Doug Ford elected into office in 2018, and became his Chief of Staff. Now, she works with Rubicon Strategy. One of her clients is AstraZeneca, who wants to sell their product here.

We have seen this pattern before with Pfizer and Emergent BioSolutions. It’s also been happening in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

The other lobbyist, Patrick Harris, spent time working for Federal politicians, which is interesting. Given the crossover between Ontario and Ottawa, he likely has plenty of connections. And the rabbit hole goes deeper.

Jan O’Driscoll worked for Harper, then was a Chief of Staff for Ford, and contributed to his 2018 election. Kory Teneycke was Communications Director for Harper, and helped Ford get elected. Another honourable mention at Rubicon Strategy is Christine Simundson. She also claims credit for helping to make Ford Ontario Premier in June 2018. She claims to have gotten 17 Candidates elected to Parliament.

With years of experience leading tactical communications and tough policy files, Jan is a straight shooter that gets the job done. He’s held senior leadership roles in the private sector as well as with several federal cabinet ministers in Harper’s government. Most recently, Jan served as Chief of Staff in several key ministries in Premier Ford’s government where he drove transformational initiatives to get wins for the people of Ontario.

With two decades in public affairs, Kory has served as the Director of Communications to the Prime Minister of Canada, managed the cable news channel “Sun News”, and served as Executive Director of the Renewable Fuels Association. Kory was the manager of the 2018 campaign that saw Doug Ford become Premier of Ontario, and is now on a leave of absence to manage the 2022 campaign for the Ontario PC Party.

Christine’s experience in the legal profession coupled with her experience in marketing and promotions gives her an edge when it comes to grassroots activism. Before joining Rubicon, Christine was active in the Ontario PC Party War Room during the 2018 Provincial election. Christine’s guidance elected 17 of the PC MPPs in Peel Region, Halton, Toronto and Northern Ontario. Christine was the PC Party Organizer for Peel Region and played a senior role in organizing the PC Leadership race of 2018.

Fadi has invested a decade in politics. He’s worked across all three levels of government. He served as senior advisor to the Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and has significant experience in public and stakeholder relations. He’s won campaigns and delivered results for Premiers, and top-level public policy leaders. Fadi doesn’t stop till the job is done and done well.

Of course, if Ford hadn’t been elected in 2018, Fadi El Masry may have been sent instead. He’s got plenty of ties to the Ontario Liberal Party, and would’ve used that.

Also, being a mouthpiece for political candidates doesn’t stop with Ontario. Two other Rubicon employees, Emrys Graefe and Cole Hogan, also claim to have been involved in making Jason Kenney the Premier of Alberta.

Spearheading digital for Doug Ford’s leadership campaign, Emrys managed the digital marketing that won the Ontario PCs a majority government in 2018 and then did the same for the UCP in Alberta, electing Jason Kenney as Premier. Having worked in politics for a decade, Emrys’ experience shows when it comes to leveraging public opinion to achieve specific outcomes.

Having played a leading role in the merging of Alberta’s Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties, Cole is a highly talented communications professional. Cole is responsible for some of the most innovative advertisements seen in Canadian politics and played a key role in electing Doug Ford as Premier of Ontario and Jason Kenney as Premier of Alberta.

It has to be asked: does being a “handler” for a political candidate stop once that person is elected? Or are there favours that need to be paid back. In all honesty, it appears that all politicians are just actors being spoon fed a script by interested parties.

If you didn’t have enough reason to NOT trust the Canadian news, consider that Don Newman (who claimed to be a journalist), is the Executive Vice President of Rubicon. Did he ever call out this sort of thing when he gave his nightly broadcast?

In fairness, lobbying or “public relations” is just part of what the group does. They are also involved in the defense industry. However, that will be for another time.

UPDATE TO ARTICLE

Shortly after publication, extra data was added to the Registry.

(1) http://lobbyist.oico.on.ca/Pages/Public/PublicSearch/
(2) https://rubiconstrategy.com/
(3) https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-letersky/
(4) https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-harris-69348726/

May 17, 2021June 2, 2022

Pfizer Lobbyists Claim Responsibility For Installing Ford and O’Toole Into Current Positions

A serious question: when someone helps install a politician into a position of power, and then becomes a lobbyist, are any “favours” then expected of said politician?

This specifically addresses 2 of them. One is Erin O’Toole, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Leader of the Official Opposition. The other is Doug Ford, Leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and Premier of Ontario.

Both men are in their respective positions as a result of others who then went on to become lobbyists for Pfizer. Both support the mass vaccination agenda, and support lockdowns and martial law of society.

Last month, 4 lobbyists from Pfizer tried to push for vaccine sales on behalf of their client. This is according to records from the Ontario Lobbying Registry. Let’s take a look into who these people actually are.

1. Kenzie McKeegan

Kenzie supports clients with government relations, policy development, research, and communication. Prior to joining Loyalist, Kenzie worked in the University of Toronto Government Relations Office where she built relationships at all levels of government, institutional partners, and external stakeholders.
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Before working at the University of Toronto, Kenzie served in various Ontario Ministries including the offices of the Deputy Premier, the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister Responsible for Digital Government and the Minister Responsible for Small Business.
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During her years in government, Kenzie supported goals and priorities of Cabinet Ministers through strategic planning and stakeholder management, providing analysis and advice.

For a bit of variety, McKeegan was actually a party operative when Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals were still in power in Ontario. Interesting that by sending lobbyists from different parties, it ensures that there will always be bipartisan support for whatever is going on.

As a bit of a side note: she’s also currently lobbying Ottawa on behalf of Apotex, trying to get more generic drugs onto the market.

2. Dan Mader

Prior to founding Loyalist, Dan served as a Senior Vice President at National Public Relations. He draws on his knowledge of policy, communications, and strategy to help Loyalist Public Affairs clients succeed in an increasingly regulated world where public opinion and the political process are critical.
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Dan worked in the federal government, where he led the development of policy in several departments including Environment, Transport, Infrastructure, and the Treasury Board and later served as Chief of Staff to the minister responsible for defence procurement. Dan also served as Deputy Campaign Manager (Policy) on Erin O’Toole’s successful campaign to lead the Conservative Party of Canada.
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During his twenty years of activism for the Ontario PC Party, Dan has served as Deputy Director of Communications for the 2014 general election campaign and as a member of the scripting team on the 2018 campaign.
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Dan began his career designing and developing enterprise software, then worked as a management consultant and as an executive at a technology company. Before joining NATIONAL, Dan worked as a Senior Consultant at a Toronto-based public affairs strategy consultancy.
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Dan is an active volunteer with the Writer’s Trust of Canada, having recently co-chaired the charity’s Ottawa dinner, Politics and the Pen. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Jewish National Fund of Canada and the Government Relations Institute of Canada (GRIC).

Mader wasn’t just with O’Toole in the 2020 race. He was also one of his handlers in his failed 2016/2017 run, eventually losing to Andrew Scheer. Mader’s boss was Campaign Chair Walied Soliman, who is a Director at Sick Kids Hospital Toronto.

Mader also lobbied Ford in November 2019, on behalf of Pfizer.

3. Jill Wilson

Jill represents clients across a wide range of sectors, from critical infrastructure such as nuclear energy, land development, and transportation to high-profile issues like cannabis, alcohol, and gaming.
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Jill focuses on government and stakeholder relations, policy development, detailed research, and communication support.
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Jill worked with federal, provincial, and municipal governments for over ten years. She understands how to make change in government, identifying those who make decisions and helping them to understand how her clients’ interests align with those of the public and the government.
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Before joining Loyalist, Jill worked at a national government relations and strategic communication firm.
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Jill served as a political advisor in Stephen Harper’s government and has also spent time in the not-for-profit sector with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

Wilson is another one who spent a long time in the Government of Stephen Harper, albeit in several different roles. Surely, she has connection to convince “Conservatives” not to ask too many questions about the experimental drugs Pfizer wants to sell to the public. Most likely, she knows a lot of the same people that Erin O’Toole and his staff know.

4. Chris Froggatt

Prior to founding Loyalist Public Affairs, Chris served as the Managing Partner for the Ottawa office of National Public Relations for eight years.
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In government, Chris served as Chief of Staff to the Hon. John Baird in a variety of ministries including Treasury Board, Environment, Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities. He also served as senior advisor to the Minister of Transportation and the Attorney General in Ontario, and a senior advisor to Canada’s former Leader of the Opposition, Preston Manning.
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During his time in the governments of Canada and Ontario, Chris led the development and execution of many policy and communication strategies for various complex public policy files. In 2012, Chris received Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal as a recognition of his commitment to his community and to Canada.
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In 2018, Chris provided strategic counsel to Doug Ford during his successful bid for the leadership of the Ontario PC Party. He then served as Vice-Chair for the Ontario PC Party’s 2018 election campaign where the PCs won their first election in almost twenty years and Doug Ford was elected Ontario’s 26th Premier. At the request of then Premier-elect, Doug Ford, Chris chaired the transition team that helped shape the foundation for the new Government of Ontario.
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Chris is a graduate of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario where he received a B.A. in Political Science and History. For over six years, he served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University and as a former Fellow of the Program, he provided lectures on the Canadian political process.

Froggatt appears to have left his official roles with the Conservative Party of Canada before Erin O’Toole was elected to Parliament. Nonetheless, he likely has many connections that cross over. Otherwise, what would even be the point of hiring him in the first place? He claims to have been with Doug Ford pretty much every step of the way of putting him into power in June 2018.

In an interesting twist to all this, Erin O’Toole was working for Christine Elliott (now the Health Minister), when she was running for the Ontario Progress Conservative leadership. She ultimately lost.

Another Loyalist operative, Zahra Sultani, worked as a Project Manager at Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Headquarters and Advisor to Ontario Cabinet Minister Rod Phillips.

What do you think? Should political handlers be allowed to get into lobbying, and then try to peddle on those very same politicians? Or does this just invite corruption?

May 17, 2021October 11, 2021

Doug Ford’s Covid-19 Communications Director Now A Pharma Lobbyist Pushing Vaccines; Counsel Public Affairs

Few things are as disgusting as when lobbying and political cronyism cross paths. This is going to focus on Doug Ford, and his operatives working for drug companies. Also, see this piece on Bonnie Henry’s Communications Chief.

The lobbying firm relevant here is Counsel Public Affairs. Its members are former (and current) political hacks who use their connections to push for financial benefits for their clients. While it’s mandatory to disclose such things, it’s rarely in the public interest.

Take Jessica Georgakopoulos, who went (almost overnight) from being a staffer for Doug Ford, to becoming a mouthpiece for GlaxoSmithKline.

Jessica Georgakopoulos brings over a dozen years of strategic thinking, political insights and communications expertise. She has extensive experience both in the public and private sectors in strategy development, media relations, crisis communications and advocacy campaigns.
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Immediately prior to joining Counsel, Jessica served as the Director of Strategic Communications for the Premier of Ontario where she advised on the widely praised communications of Ontario’s COVID-19 response and managed the integration of government-wide communications strategies during the pandemic.
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Jessica has also served the Ford Government as the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Long-Term Care, leading the development of the government’s modernization plan for building long-term care homes. Jessica also worked as Director of Communications for Ontario’s Minister of Government and Consumer Services.
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Jess brings to Counsel a strong network across Canada’s political and business media forged through her work as the Director of Communications at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, her five years in public relations and crisis communication consulting, and serving as Press Secretary and Issues Manager to two Federal Cabinet Ministers within the Harper Government. During her time as a consultant, Jessica worked on high-profile advocacy campaigns and provided crisis communications support for leading organizations.

Immediately prior to joining Counsel Public Affairs, Georgakopoulos worked as Communications Director for Doug Ford, related directly for his Covid-19 public strategies. She now is a lobbyist for pharmaceutical companies like GSK, pushing for vaccines. And in case there is any confusion about the content of the lobbying, the Ontario Registry itself lists the content.

Q: Describe your lobbying goal(s) in detail. What are you attempting to influence or accomplish as a result of your communications with Ontario public office holders?

A: Engage with provincial government decision-makers to educate and raise awareness about two new COVID-19 therapeutic treatments under development by GSK (Vir-7831 and Otilimab), and encourage Ontario to actively collaborate with the federal government to expedite procurement options, and pursue related implementation matters, to secure an appropriate allocation of such medicines to potentially make them available to Canadian patients, prescribers and hospitals, pending approvals by Health Canada.

In the span of a month, Georgakopoulos went from working with Ford’s Government on its “pandemic” response, to trying to convince them to buy drugs related to that response. Does anyone see a problem with any of this?

For more context, both GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer announced they would launch a joint consumer health care venture. Considering that Pfizer is one of the companies with an interim authorized (not approved) vaccine on the market, lobbying for GSK could be seen as helping them. Again, consider the timing of Georgakopoulos’ departure from the Ford Government.

Brad Lavigne and Jean-Marc Prevost were mentioned in the previous piece, along with their ties to Emergent BioSolutions, which makes AstraZeneca, and coziness with Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix.

As for cronyism and conflicts of interest within Counsel Public Affairs, hold on. It’s about to get much, much worse.

Caroline Pinto is also listed as a GSK lobbyist. She is co-Founder of Counsel Public Affairs, and was “policy advisor to the Attorney General of Ontario and Minister Responsible for Native Affairs under the Mike Harris government from 1995 to 1998”. Interesting how her ties extend back to the previous ONPC Government.

Devan Sommerville was a policy advisor in the Ontario Liberal Governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. Perhaps if Ford gets voted out, Devan will be called in to do the influence peddling.

Jaskiran Shoker was an intern in the Ontario Legislature at the tail end of Kathleen Wynne’s run as Premier. She then immediately gets into consulting work with Counsel Public Affairs. That must have been quite some educational experience.

Shanice Scott worked in the Premier’s Office back when it was run by Kathleen Wynne. Another Liberal Party insider.

Of course, the lobbying isn’t limited to Ontario. Counsel Public Affairs also lobbied the Alberta Government, trying to push a nasal spray on behalf of Emergent BiolSolutions. As stated earlier, this company is manufacturing AstraZeneca. They’ve hit Saskatchewan as well.

Yes, this firm has lobbied Federally too

To be clear, this isn’t all the lobbying that Counsel Public Affairs does, or even all the pharma lobbying. The point is that this organization is filled with partisan operatives, very connected, and are advocating for it. Jessica Georgakopoulos is a particularly aggregious case, but far from the only one. Parliaments, particularly in Ontario, are compromised by this group.

Also check this previous article from Canuck Law, and this from The Breaker. Both will provide further background into the lobbying issue.

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