Lobbying Archives - Page 12 of 22

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.

May 16, 2021October 11, 2021

Bonnie Henry’s Ex-Mouthpiece Now BC Pharma Lobbyist For Emergent BioSolutions (Which Makes AZ)

One would think that leaving the Ministry of Health, join a lobbying firm, and then lobby said Ministry would be a serious problem. However, that appears to be what has happened in B.C.

A disclaimer: the connection between Jean-Marc Prevost, Bonnie Henry, and Counsel Public Affairs was reported on by The Breaker. Go check out that article as well. While there is considerable overlap, this will not be a complete rehash, and will focus more on the source material involved. The Breaker also covered the hiring of a spin-doctor for Henry.

On May 10, 2021, Prevost became a registered lobbyist in B.C. on behalf of Emergent BioSolutions Canada Inc. (formerly Adapt Pharma Canada Ltd.) He’s working for the firm Counsel Public Affairs, and is now planning to lobby the B.C. Government on behalf of AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, which are mass producing vaccines to sell across the globe.

British Columbia Real Estate Association
Emergent BioSolutions Canada Inc.
Encorp Pacific (Canada)
Hello Fresh Canada Inc.
Insurance Council of British Columbia
North York Rehabilitation Centre Corp.
Toyota Canada Inc.

In the last week, Prevost has officially become registered as a lobbyist for 7 companies. He will be quite busy as a paid mouthpiece for the foreseeable future.

Prior to joining Counsel, Jean-Marc led B.C. Health’s communications team. From the first confirmed COVID-19 case to the first vaccine shot, he supported Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on their globally-recognized pandemic response. Dr. Henry acknowledged his contributions and “powerful ways with words,” in her book, Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe.
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Jean-Marc held communications positions in economic, energy and justice ministries in the Government of Alberta under Premier Rachel Notley, including leading multi-department implementation of a province-wide coal phase-out. He also worked with economic development leaders to plan digital arts, health innovation, venture capital and market diversification initiatives for small and medium-sized businesses.
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He held central roles in the Manitoba government under Premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger – including leading communications for two record floods and for Canada’s delegation to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
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Jean-Marc has also travelled to many First Nations across the prairies, working with Indigenous organizations to develop public and private partnerships that support indigenous environmental, education, training, employment and housing initiatives.
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Jean-Marc started his career as a journalist with CTV Winnipeg.

Prevost has spent considerable time with BCPHO Bonnie Henry, and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix. In fact, it was so much time that Bonnie acknowledged him in her book (which was written while working for the public). Additionally, he has worked in Government both in Alberta and Manitoba. Also, his time with the Bell-owned CTV gives him considerable clout into the Canadian media landscape.

Will any of this matter? In the media, probably not. After all, Bonnie Henry repeatedly makes comments about there being no real science behind the health measures she imposes. She never gets called out on any of it though. This will probably be more of the same.

The plot thickens. Another prominent lobbyist for Emergent BioSolutions is Brad Lavigne, a long time political operative, both in B.C., and Federally. Some information on him:

Prior to Prevost taking charge, Emergent BioSolutions was represented by Brad Lavigne, a longtime NDP political operative. He has also been a regular on CBC for some 17 years, which makes him just another political mouthpiece.

In March, despite various new restictions in the Province of B.C., wineries were still allowed to remain open for tasting. That seemed to be an odd exemption, as this isn’t exactly “essential”. Of course, things start to make sense once it’s mentioned that Bonnie Henry co-owns a winery in Keremeos. Can’t let a public health crisis get in the way of business.

In April, Health Canada announced that Emergent BioSolutions manufacturing facility in Baltimore, Maryland has been flagged by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for serious quality issues, but claimed that there was nothing for Canadians to worry about.

Of course, the pharma lobbying is not restricted to B.C. It goes on elsewhere as well.

As an aside, Counsel Public Affairs operates throughout Canada, and most of its staff are based in Ontario. They are lobbying the Ford Government on behalf of several pharmaceutical companies, including GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) and Emergent Biosolutions. No wonder he and Christine Elliott are so vaxx happy. In fact, the Counsel Public Affairs firm seems to have connections throughout Ontario politics, and it spans different parties.

Nose spray anyone? Counsel Public Affairs is also trying to get a nasal spray sold in Canada on behalf of their client as well.

Of course, this isn’t everything that is going on. However, it’s another example of politicians and lobbyists being too close for it to be in the public interest. Anyhow, after reading this, go check the work from The Breaker.

(1) https://thebreaker.news/business/henry-wordsmith-lobbyist/
(2) https://thebreaker.news/business/bonnie-henry-spin-doctor/
(3) https://counselpa.com/insight/counsel-public-affairs-adds-experienced-government-communications-specialist-to-western-team/
(4) https://counselpa.com/team/brad-lavigne/
(5) https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-lavigne-a0927a39/
(6) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/
(7) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=4186&regId=56559213
(8) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrs/do/advSrch?V_SEARCH.command=navigate&time=1621194530444
(9) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrs/do/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=9170
(10) https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-lavigne-a0927a39/
(11) https://globalnews.ca/news/7732090/indoor-wine-tastings-bc-covid-restrictions/
(12) https://www.keremeosreview.com/news/similkameen-winery-co-owned-by-dr-bonnie-henry/
(13) https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2021/04/statement-from-health-canada-on-astrazeneca-and-janssen-covid-19-vaccines-produced-at-emergent-biosolutions.html
(14) http://lobbyist.oico.on.ca/Pages/Public/PublicSearch/
(15) https://counselpa.com/team/
(16) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/advSrch
(17) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=365677&regId=905980

May 16, 2021December 27, 2022

CV #10(D): Nova Scotia Pharma Lobbying; MOH Robert Strang An Anti-Democratic Tyrant

Just to get it out of the way, it’s disturbing how someone who looks this unhealthy could be a Medical Officer of Health, as he is for the Province of Nova Scotia. Supposedly he was a rugby player, although it’s hard to tell. For some inexplicable reason, the media treats people like this as rock stars.

Anyhow, Strang is a huge proponent of endless lockdowns, and pushing the big pharma agenda. However, even when the consequences of this are becoming obvious, he won’t admit any responsibility. See the above video, and the following quote:

Nova Scotia will pause the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as the first dose effective today, May 12.
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The decision is based on an abundance of caution due to an observed increase in the rare blood clotting condition linked to this vaccine and because Nova Scotia has enough mRNA vaccine to immunize people age 40 and older.
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Anyone who is scheduled to receive their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine will receive an email canceling that appointment and asking them to book a new appointment for either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
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A decision on second doses will be made once more information is received from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Nova Scotia’s vaccine plan will be adjusted based on this guidance.
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The AstraZeneca vaccine has been linked to vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or VITT, in other provinces.
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Anyone with any of the following symptoms after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine should seek medical help right away or call 911 and say they have received the vaccine:
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-shortness of breath
-chest pain
-stomach pain that will not go away
-leg swelling
-a sudden and severe headache
-a headache that will not go away and is getting worse
-blurred vision
-skin bruising (other than the area vaccinated), reddish or purplish spots, or blood blisters under the skin
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The above symptoms are most likely to occur between days four and 14 after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Have to love the mental gymnastics here. Even as Robert Strang tells Nova Scotia that getting the vaccines was the right decision, it’s pulled from use (probably forever), and people are urged to seek medical attention for a variety of symptoms.

The message is touted nationally as well. Even though this “vaccine” is being pulled for health reasons, Canadians should take pride in the decision to get a first (or second) dose. It’s mind blowing that people could actually take this seriously.

Strang has taken it upon himself to decide what’s true and what’s not, and to condemn “misinformation“.

Interesting side note: Strang took some flak for opting out of AstraZeneca himself. Perhaps he doesn’t really believe what he preaches.

So, why is Nova Scotia so hesitant (pardon the pun) to completely throw AstraZeneca under the bus?

Wild idea, but perhaps AstraZeneca having 15 people currently registered (as in right now) as lobbyists with the Nova Scotia Government played some role in not completely bashing their product. And no, this is not limited to a single company.

The Canadian Medical Association, which is on record as supporting Ontario’s stay-at-home order (or 24 hour curfew) also has plenty of lobbyists registered with Nova Scotia.

The Doctors of Nova Scotia doesn’t seem to raise too many red flags. However, having a lobbyist from GlaxSmithKline is an interesting bit. Likewise with Innovative Medicines, Merck, and the Pharmacy Association of Canada. It’s almost as if there was some pattern to the types of organization that are lobbying in Nova Scotia.

Keep in mind, these are only the registrations that are documented. It’s quite likely that other things have gone on behind the scene for which records aren’t posted.

Strang worked with Theresa Tam on the Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses Regarding Updated Data on Canada’s Opioid Crisis in 2018. Interesting. Now he pushes for Nova Scotians to take “vaccines” that are not approved, but only have interim authorization, based on low standards.

On Wednesday May 12, 2021, an application for injunction was filed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. It was granted on Friday based on 2 Affidavits, one from Robert Strang. This was done “ex parte”, meaning that there was no opposing side to challenge it.

At a minimum, it would have been nice to see what was in those Affidavits.

The result is that public gatherings, including gatherings to these illegal measures have been effectively banned. The ban (unless thrown out) would remain in place as long as the Government decides there is a public health emergency.

In participating in this, Strang demonstrated himself to be nothing more than a thug. He convinced a judge to strip away Nova Scotia’s right to assemble, something that could never have been accomplished legislatively.

(1) https://twitter.com/Doctors_NS
(2) https://twitter.com/nsgov/status/1393286842737434626
(3) https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20210512006
(4) https://globalnews.ca/news/6716932/coronavirus-canada-medical-officers/
(5) https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/astrazeneca-vaccine-provinces-pause-regrets-1.6024004
(6) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-nova-scotia-march-31-2020-1.5516108
(7) https://novascotia.ca/sns/Lobbyist/organization/confirmation.asp
(8) https://novascotia.ca/sns/Lobbyist/undertaking/undertaking_VD.asp?key=748&a=view
(9) https://www.cma.ca/
(10) https://doctorsns.com/
(11) https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-strang-9044ab43/
(12) https://www.pharmiweb.com/press-release/2018-09-18/statement-from-the-co-chairs-of-the-special-advisory-committee-on-the-epidemic-of-opioid-overdoses-r
(13) https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/docs/court-of-nova-scotia-injunction-order-14-may-2021.pdf
(14) Nova Scotia Supreme Court Protest Injunction May 14

May 6, 2021April 10, 2023

Meet Éric Lamoureux Of Public Affairs Advisors, Puppet-Master Of Francois Legault On SNC Lavalin

In February 2019, Quebec Premier Francois Legault called on the Federal Government to make a deal with SNC Lavalin in the ongoing criminal case. Presumably, that meant offering Lavalin a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, or DPA. This would allow them to continue bidding on Federal contracts immediately, and bypass the mandatory 10 year ban. Previously, Quebec had been pressuring Ottawa to change the law to allow for such legislation to be enacted.

The topic of corruption at SNC Lavalin has been addressed in this mini series. Take a read through for more background information.

Now, a question has to be asked: where did Legault get this idea? Who has been pulling his strings?

Éric Lamoureux
Managing Director, Montréal

Éric Lamoureux has been helping Canadian corporate and political leaders effectively manage complex public policy and reputational issues for more than a decade. In that time, he has been a political advisor to leading federal and municipal politicians, national associations, cultural groups, and both national and global corporations.

Based in Montréal, Éric draws on deep expertise in politics and public administration to help clients protect and promote their interests in Canada and Québec. As a specialist in issues management, regulatory affairs, stakeholder relations and media relations, Éric has achieved many notable successes on behalf of his clients, including: helping a global financial services company safeguard its market position in the face of regulatory change; mobilizing the support of a provincial government to pressure for changes to the federal Criminal Code on a client’s behalf; and encourage a major Canadian municipal government to reverse a decision to construct a public building beside a client facility.

As Managing Director based in Montréal, Éric leads all of the firm’s activities and operations in Québec, and works with clients on issues across Canada.

Meet Éric Lamoureux Of Public Affairs Advisors, PPA, a lobbying firm that operates out of Quebec and Ottawa. While he doesn’t name SNC Lavalin, perhaps to make it less obvious, who else could it be?

The implication is that Lamoureux and PPA lobbied the Quebec Government to pressure the Federal Government to change the law. This would have allowed Lavalin to escape the worst of potential criminal sanctions. If this isn’t illegal, at a minimum it’s incredibly sleazy.

It takes a special kind of stupid to announce corruption in your professional profile. Then again, in this atmosphere, it may just be a form of advertising.

According to his LinkedIn page, Lamoureux worked for the Liberals from 2003 to 2006. Keep in mind, this is the period that Jean Chretien was forced to resign (because of corruption allegations). Later, Paul Martin was voted out of office (because of corruption allegations). Afterwards, Lamoureux became the Chief of Staff for the Ottawa Mayor.

So why not just lobby Ottawa directly? Well, that was done as well, primarily by Bruce Hartley (a Chretien operative), and William Pristanski (a Mulroney operative). Check earlier pieces in the series. Lamoureux and PPA were just another level of pressure, trying to get Quebec to pile on with the Federal Liberals.

Now, it’s possible that Lamoureux is just puffing his chest, and he isn’t the mastermind. But then, why brag about something like this? It’s strange that his name doesn’t appear anywhere in the mainstream press about this “accomplishment”.

Looking through the index of advisors, it’s clear that these are political hacks (of different Parties), who come together to peddle influence for whoever happens to pay their bills.

Felix Wong is an Advisor in PAA’s Ottawa office with nearly a decade of political experience and a strong background in communications, public policy, issues management and stakeholder engagement.
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Felix understands the government decision-making process, having worked in various roles on Parliament Hill, including as an advisor to several Cabinet Ministers. In addition, he served as Manager of National Outreach for the Conservative Party of Canada and has been a part of two national election campaign teams for the Conservatives. In these roles, he helped create a stakeholder outreach strategy to communicate policies to Canada’s diverse cultural communities.

Maryanne Sheehy is an Advisor in Ottawa providing strategic analysis, public policy, media, and stakeholder relations advice to clients.
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Maryanne has an in-depth knowledge of government having worked in the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa for over five years where she served in a variety of roles including as an Advisor for stakeholder relations and outreach. She brings expertise in developing and implementing communications, stakeholder, and issues management strategies for key business and political decision makers. During her time on Parliament Hill, Maryanne also worked as an Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff and was part of two national campaign teams for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Not to worry, this isn’t just a problem of Liberal cronyism. At least at few advisors at PPA has ties to the higher ups on the Conservative Party of Canada.

Latitia Scarr is a Senior Advisor & Client Director in Ottawa, where she brings extensive experience in policy, government relations and communications. Most recently, she worked for the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, managing advocacy and regulatory issues affecting trade.
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Previous roles have included Caucus Services in the Liberal Research Bureau/Office of the Leader of the Opposition and Policy Manager at the Liberal Party of Canada National Office. These and other positions have given her wide-ranging knowledge on issues such as trade, agriculture and food, public safety, health, customs, innovation, Indigenous affairs, natural resources, among others, as well as of the public policy arena.

Bit of a side note: she also worked for the coalition for gun control. Now she works with so-called conservatives. How peculiar.

Dan Pfeffer is a Senior Advisor & Client Director in Ottawa, working with the firm’s clients at the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government. Based in Ottawa, he holds a Ph.D. in political science and has researched and published on various aspects of public policy and government decision making. He also has taught in faculties of various universities including McGill and l’Université du Québec à Montréal.
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Dan brings extensive knowledge of group mobilization and stakeholder engagement to his work on behalf of clients in the health, technology, financial services and telecommunications sectors. In addition to his academic work, he served as a key member of the campaign team that elected Anthony Housefather in the hotly contested federal riding of Mount Royal in 2015.

Pfeffer taught at McGill University. That is a strange coincidence (if it is one) that current Attorney General David Lametti is a Professor there, currently on leave. Lametti was brought in as the “fixer” after Jody Wilson-Raybould refused to grant SNC Lavalin their DPA.

Noah Niznick is a Senior Advisor & Client Director in Ottawa, where he works closely with clients in the financial services, natural resource and health care sectors. He joined the firm after serving for several years as the senior political advisor to the national caucus chair of Canada’s Official Opposition.
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In that role, Noah established deep policy knowledge and strong relationships with elected officials, government advisors, as well as the many stakeholders engaged in public policy at the federal level. He has developed significant policy initiatives on a range of economic, consumer, and technology issues, working with a range of diverse interests. He also manages traditional and social media strategies, as well as issue-focused communications campaigns to reach targeted audiences.

Michael von Herff founded the firm in 2010 and works with clients to advance their public policy and regulatory agendas in Canada, the United States and Europe.
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Over the past 25 years, Michael has helped clients protect and promote their interests with governments, media and stakeholders on the issues that matter most to their business. He has delivered success on a range of challenging assignments including: convincing a U.N. body to pass new regulations to accommodate the concerns of one of the world’s most important commodity groups; securing $100 million in new government support for a research fund in a previously ignored disease area; and, ensuring a major Canadian services company did not become a victim of policy change during a major overhaul of financial services regulations.

Other than political cronyism, what else are these people up to these days? Who’s writing the cheques now?

Seems that Public Affairs Advisors is now lobbying on behalf of Moderna. After all, Canadians need those interim authorized (not approved), mRNA vaccines to be distributed immediately. Seems that the PPA really will represent anybody. We’ll have to see what else comes their way.

April 27, 2021March 11, 2022

SPOR Evidence Alliance (OST Partner), Gets Funding From World Health Organization

This is another look at the Ontario Science Table, and their partners. Now we get to the SPOR Evidence Alliance, which was supported by CIHR, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. SPOR itself is an acronym for “Strategy for Patient Oriented Research”. Okay, it’s funded by the Canadian Government, but by itself, that isn’t too bad.

Problem is, SPOR is also supported and sponsored by, the World Health Organization, although the distinction isn’t clear. It’s also sponsored by CADTH, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, a WHO Working Group.

How We Manage Conflicts of Interests
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-We currently DO NOT accept any funding from private industry (e.g., pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers) to support our research activities.
-All our members must declare annual statements of conflicts and competing interests.
We encourage and nurture open communication and respectful relationships, and strive to resolve conflicts and competing interests through diplomacy.

While this sounds fine on paper, it overlooks 2 details. First, Governments, supra-national bodies and academia “can” and often do have conflicts of interest. Second, even if they don’t have conflicts of interests, groups they partner with can.

SPOR has more sponsors. This includes the University of Toronto, which has all kinds of ties to the Ontario Science Table. Furthermore, it’s sponsored by McMaster University, which hosts Cochrane Canada (another WHO partner), and receives money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

At a Glance
The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance is a pan-Canadian research initiative designed to promote evidence-informed health policy and practice changes. Our 300+ network of researchers, trainees, patient partners, and stakeholders is led by Dr. Andrea Tricco and 11 principal investigators from across Canada.

The SPOR Evidence Alliance was founded in 2017, thanks to a five-year grant awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under Canada’s SPOR Initiative, and the generosity of partners from 41 sponsors from public and not-for-profit sectors in Canada.

From this description, SPOR seems to present itself as a researching and consulting group, one designed to cause systematic change to health care. How many of these groups are there?

And when they take money from institutions like the World Health Organization, how independent can they really be?

Also, CIHR funds initiatives that seem to run counter to independence, like paying groups to act as vaccine salesmen and improve uptake rates. How independent is this group, or any part of the Canadian Government?

IMPORTANT LINKS
(1) https://sporevidencealliance.ca/
(2) https://sporevidencealliance.ca/about/governance-structure/
(3) https://sporevidencealliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SPOREA_Alliance-Infographic.pdf
(4) https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/193.html
(5) https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/41204.html

EARLIER IN THIS SERIES
(a) Michael Warner Financially Benefits From Prolonged Lockdowns
(b) Who Is Ontario Deputy Medical Officer, Barbara Yaffe?
(c) OST, Monopoly From The University Of Toronto Connected
(d) OST, University Of Toronto, Look At Their Members And Partners
(e) OST’s Robert Steiner Claims To Be Behind PHAC Canada Creation
(f) OST’s Kwame McKenzie Headed 2017 UBI Pilot Project
(g) OST UofT Prelude Actually Set Out In May 2019
(h) OST’s Murty Has Tech Firm That Benefits From Lockdowns
(i) OST: Como Foundation Gives Trillium Health Partners $5M
(j) OST: Current PHO Officials Also Sitting On As Partners
(k) OST: Canadian Agency For Drugs & Technologies In Health; pCPA
(l) OST: Centre For Effective Practice Gets Money From Lockdown
(m) OST: Cochrane Canada; WHO; McMaster University

April 26, 2021March 11, 2022

Centre For Effective Practice, Yet Another OST “Partner” That Stands To Profit From Lockdowns

The Centre for Effective Practice, or CEP, is another “partner” of the Ontario Science Table. The OST apparently does the thinking for Doug Ford and Christine Elliott.

Unsurprisingly, CEP was established as part of the University of Toronto in 2004. They list their services as: research & evaluation, clinical tools and digitization, education programs, and engagement & communication.

CEP also provides a set of key talking points that doctors and other health care providers are to parrot concerning these “vaccines” now available in Canada. The goal isn’t to address legitimate concerns, but rather, to appear to be addressing them.

COVID-19 vaccine authorization
Health Canada has authorized a number of COVID-19 vaccines for use in Canada after a thorough and rigorous review of the evidence to ensure the vaccines meet the standards of safety, quality and efficacy for authorization in Canada. Health Canada will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccines after they are available.

Key messages
–Lead by example. Get the COVID-19 vaccine yourself as soon as it is offered to you to protect yourself, your patients, and your community.
–Advise patients to receive the vaccine. Communication by trusted health professionals about the importance of vaccines is the most effective way to counter vaccine hesitancy. Tell your patients you will get or have already received the vaccine.
-Be an educator. Be prepared to answer patient questions and address concerns about the vaccine.

Vaccine summary
–Efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization
-All of the approved vaccines have a high efficacy rate against severe disease. In the clinical trials, efficacy against severe disease was shown to be:

Pfizer: 75-100% (after dose 2)
Moderna: 100% (14 days after dose 2)
AstraZeneca: 100% (after dose 2)
Janssen: 85.4% (28 days after dose)

First, whether by accident, or by design, CEP is blurring the line between “approved” vaccines, and ones given “interim authorization”. To clarify, these are not approved. Section 30.1 of the Canada Food & Drug Act allows the Health Minister to sign an Interim Order, allowing them on the market anyway.

(a) Approved: Health Canada has fully reviewed all the testing, and steps have been done, with the final determination that it can be used for the general population
(b) Interim Authorization: deemed to be “worth the risk” under the circumstances, doesn’t have to be fully tested. Allowed under Section 30.1 of the Canada Food & Drug Act. Commonly referred to as an emergency use authorization.

Have a look at the Interim Order, particularly Section 5. Getting authorization isn’t exactly a difficult burden to meet.

Second, an astute person will notice the sleight-of-hand here. These so-called vaccines were “authorized” by Health Canada, however “approved” ones will be rigorously tested. This is an indirect way of saying that these weren’t actually subjected to such testing.

Third, these aren’t really vaccines. Gene replacement therapy would be a more accurate description of the mRNA substances that Pfizer and Moderna produced.

Fourth, it doesn’t say that these gene-replacement “vaccines” will prevent a virus. Instead, it touts efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization. In other words, symptom management.

Fifth, it is explicitly stated that people will rely on your opinion in order to make the decision. While it’s also stated to answer questions, this passage is full of misrepresentations.

https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-pm-en.pdf
https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/janssen-covid-19-vaccine-pm-en.pdf
https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/covid-19-vaccine-moderna-pm-en.pdf
https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-pm1-en.pdf

Instead of taking word of someone on the internet, it’s probably best to read the product inserts for yourself. Above are the documents provided by Health Canada. Notice, that nowhere do they say “approved” in the documentation.

However, CEP doesn’t provide the actual Health Canada documents. They do other an AstraZeneca summary and a comparison paper, but not the original source materials

Now, why why CEP, the Centre for Effective Practice, be such a blatant shill in the name of big pharma? When you look at their donors and collaborators, things start to make a lot of sense.

Some of CEP’s financial contributors, associates are worth a closer look:

Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
eHealth Centre of Excellence
Healthcare Excellence Canada
OntarioMD

Could it be that CEP, and its partners and donors support continued lockdowns and restrictions in Ontario, (and elsewhere), at least partially because it’s good for business? Let’s take a look into some of these groups.

We Are The Advocate, Network And Resource For Team-Based Primary Care In Ontario
The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) works to support the implementation and growth of primary care teams by promoting best practices, sharing lessons learned, and advocating on behalf of all primary care teams. Evidence and experience show that team-based comprehensive primary care is delivering better health and better value to patients.
.
AFHTO is a not-for-profit association representing Ontario’s primary health care teams, which include Family Health Teams (FHTs), Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics (NPLCs) and others who provide interprofessional comprehensive primary care.
.
Working towards a common vision
Our members share the compelling vision that one day, all Ontarians will have timely access to high-quality and comprehensive primary care; care that is:
.
Informed by the social determinants of health – the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age
Delivered by the right mix of health professionals, working in collaborative teams in partnership with patients, caregivers and the community
.
Anchored in an integrated and equitable health system, promoting good health and seamless care for all patients
Sustainable – efficiently delivered and appropriately resourced to achieve expected outcomes

AFHTO works with and on behalf of members to:
.
Provide leadership to promote expansion of high-quality, comprehensive, well-integrated interprofessional primary care for the benefit of all Ontarians, and
Be their advocate, champion, network and resource to support them in improving and delivering optimal interprofessional care

The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario is essentially a lobbying group, for the unmbrella of health care workers. That’s what this word salad means. AFTHO also is quite partisan in their efforts, and are pushing for the virtual care model of health, a large part of their online content covers that.

AFHTO is also demanding Ford impose a stay-at-home order. This is a conflict of interest since they are also promoting the “solution”: more access to online health services.

The eHealth Centre of Excellence is another online medical service that offers e-prescribing, referrals, and consults with specialists. As continued lockdowns make physical movement more tricky, this enterprise will surely grow. Also, as the physical and mental health of people wears down, it will artificially generate more business.

Healthcare Excellence Canada acts as a cross between a health care consultant, and an continuing education provided. They also donate to CEP, and their business model is expected to grow. Also, if you wish to take their Executive Training Program, it’s only $2,500 to enroll. What a deal!

OntarioMD offers a variety of services, such as digital health services, which can be bundled together. There’s also eConsulting, which aims to connect patients to specialists quicker. There’s also a Health Medical Upgrade, which is a way of digitizing, storing, and moving records. As physical appearances in health care settings are replaced, the demand for this will grow.

It’s worth pointing out that OntarioMD is not the only party to benefit from this arrangement. Additionally, it means increased business for its vendors, who will also see the rewards. Some of these names should be familiar.

To circle back to the start of the article: what is the real reason that the Centre for Effective Practice, (an Ontario Science Table partner), is so on board with restrictions to liberty? Or, are these connections just coincidental, and completely unrelated?

Don’t worry, CEP has their “talking points” for people who may be concerned about getting experimental shots of who knows what.

CEP_21-015_Provider-Guide_Moderna_r5
CEP AstraZeneca Information Propaganda
CEP Vaccine Comparison Sheet Propaganda

IMPORTANT LINKS
(1) https://cep.health/
(2) https://cep.health/toolkit/covid-19-resource-centre/
(3) https://tools.cep.health/tool/covid-19-vaccines/
(4) https://tools.cep.health/tool/covid-19-vaccine-staging-environment/
(5) https://tools.cep.health/tool/virtual-management-of-chronic-conditions-during-covid-19/
(6) https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/our-partners/
(7) https://twitter.com/Roman_Baber/status/1386788379669508103
(8) Ontario Science Table 01 Behaviour Control Techniques April 22 2021
(9) Ontario Science Table 02 Vaccine Confidence March 5 2021
(10) Ontario Science Table 03 Learning From Israel Feb 1 2021
(11) Ontario Science Table 04 Putting In Harsher Restrictions Oct 15 2021
(12) https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-27/page-8.html#h-234517
(13) Patty Hajdu’s September 16 Interim Order
(14) CEP AstraZeneca Information Propaganda
(15) CEP Vaccine Comparison Sheet Propaganda
(16) https://www.afhto.ca/
(17) https://www.afhto.ca/afhtos-role-supporting-team-based-care/about-afhto
(18) https://www.afhto.ca/news-events/news/ontario-needs-stay-home-order
(19) AFHTO Shift To Virtual Health Care
(20) https://ehealthce.ca/Our-Team.htm
(21) https://healthcareexcellence.ca/
(22) Health Care Excellence Executive Training Class
(23) https://www.ontariomd.ca/
(24) https://www.ontariomd.ca/about-us/our-organization/our-partners

EARLIER IN THIS SERIES
(a) Michael Warner Financially Benefits From Prolonged Lockdowns
(b) Who Is Ontario Deputy Medical Officer, Barbara Yaffe?
(c) OST, Monopoly From The University Of Toronto Connected
(d) OST, University Of Toronto, Look At Their Members And Partners
(e) OST’s Robert Steiner Claims To Be Behind PHAC Canada Creation
(f) OST’s Kwame McKenzie Headed 2017 UBI Pilot Project
(g) OST UofT Prelude Actually Set Out In May 2019
(h) OST’s Murty Has Tech Firm That Benefits From Lockdowns
(i) Como Foundation Gives Trillium Health Partners $5M
(j) Current PHO Officials Also Sitting On Ontario Science Table
(k) Canadian Agency For Drugs & Technologies In Health; pCPA

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