NGO/CS Archives - Page 26 of 42

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.

May 15, 2021October 6, 2021

Sister Of Pro-Lockdown Mayor John Tory A Board Member At Bell (Which Received CEWS, Tax Breaks)

Family time is always a wonderful thing. Even as adult, brothers and sisters should appreciate and celebrate the accomplishments of each other. On the surface, this is a lovely display of affection between John and Jennifer Tory. The thread also mentions Jennifer’s work with Sunnybrook at RBC

Then we have this:

Jennifer Tory is a corporate director who was, until her retirement in December 2019, the Chief Administrative Officer of RBC (a chartered bank) where she held responsibility for Brand, Marketing, Citizenship & Communications, Procurement and Real Estate functions globally. Prior to this role, she was Group Head, Personal & Commercial Banking, leading RBC’s retail and commercial customer businesses and operations in Canada and the Caribbean from 2014-2017.
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Throughout her 42-year career, Ms. Tory held a number of key senior operating positions across retail distribution and operations including overseeing digital & cost transformation of the business. She is Chair, Toronto International Film Festival Board, a member of the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation Board, and completed her ICD.D designation. Ms. Tory is a Member of the Order of Canada.
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Ms. Tory is a director of BCE and Bell Canada board since April 2021.

Jennifer Tory, sister of Toronto Mayor, John Tory, is a Board Member at Bell Media. They own a good chunk of the television and radio media in Canada. Funny thing is, this relationship is not really discussed. Granted, she joined the board quite recently, but still.

Surprisingly, the Toronto Star did quite a good piece on Bell’s new management changes. However, it’s an open question how fairly the Bell media empire will cover things, given the Tory relationship. It seems unlikely Jennifer would hang her brother out to dry.

Gordon M. Nixon is Chair of the Board of BCE and Bell Canada since April 2016. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Bank of Canada (a chartered bank) from August 2001 to August 2014. Mr. Nixon first joined RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (an investment banking firm) in 1979, where he held a number of operating positions, serving as Chief Executive Officer from December 1999 to April 2001.
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Mr. Nixon is a Director and past Chair of MaRS, a Toronto based network of partners that helps entrepreneurs launch and grow innovative companies and is a Trustee of the Art Galley of Ontario. He is a Director and Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee at Blackrock, Inc. and is Lead Director of George Weston Limited.
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Mr. Nixon earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honours from Queen’s University and was awarded honourary Doctorate of Law degrees from Queen’s University and Dalhousie University. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario and was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Nixon is the Director and Chair of Corporate Governance at Blackrock, which owns SNC Lavalin, and has ties to the Communist Party of Canada. And like Tory, he was an Executive for RBC for a prolonged period. And George Weston Limited is the parent company of countless grocery chains.

David Denison is a former President and CEO of CPPIB, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and also was an RBC exceutive.

Calin Rovinescu was the CEO of Air Canada from 2009 until 2021. He’s also a pension fund manager and a Director at the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Cornell Wright is Executive Vice President of Wittington Investments, Limited (the principal holding company of the Weston-Loblaw-Choice Properties group). He’s scheduled to leave at the end of 2021. He also spent 20 years at Torys LLP law firm, founded by John Tory’s family.

Given the number of television channels and radio stations that Bell owns, having any sort of bias in management is likely to lead to censorship. A quick look through Wikipedia will show just how large the empire is.

In fairness however, CTV seemed to have little interest in doing accurate “pandemic” coverage beforehand, but this won’t help matters.

Bell, or BCE, has received CEWS, or Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. Although the amount is not listed, it’s possible that some 75% of wages are being subsidized by taxpayers. That could contribute to why their television and radio stations simply parrot the Government narrative uncritically.

It’s worth pointing out that Rogers Media, which John Tory used to be President and CEO of, also received benefits from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.

According to the Office of the Lobbying Registrar, BCE received almost $123 million from the Canada Revenue Agency in the year 2020. Although the details aren’t specified in this, it is likely a combination of Government programs like CEWS, the Commercial Rent Subsidy, and grants awarded to the company. It would be interesting to know the exact terms of this funding.

Think that biased and slanted coverage in the media is just poor reporting? It’s likely to be more deliberate and organized than that. Bell, like most companies, aren’t too likely to bite the hand that feeds them.

(1) https://twitter.com/JohnTory/status/933891571015192576
(2) https://bce.ca/about-bce/leadership-team/board-members/jennifer-tory
(3) https://bce.ca/about-bce/leadership-team/board-members/gordon-m-nixon
(4) https://bce.ca/about-bce/leadership-team/board-members/david-f-denison
(5) https://bce.ca/about-bce/leadership-team/board-members/calin-rovinescu
(6) https://bce.ca/about-bce/leadership-team/board-members/cornell-wright
(7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Bell_Media
(8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tory
(9) https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/hacc/cews/srch/pub/bscSrch
(10) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=4971&regId=907642

May 13, 2021June 14, 2021

(Amended) Colin Furness And Sapphire Health

Update To Article
Recently, Sapphire Health listed Furness as an advisor. That page has since been changed, removing him. The before and after versions are available.

Since the original publication, Furness’ name has been removed from the Advisors list. He claims he was listed in error, and never a paid advisor, but merely an old friend of the owner.

About
I am an infection control epidemiologist with an industry focus on behaviour and infection risk. I am also the U of T Faculty of Information’s first teaching stream assistant professor.

My teaching is in the area of knowledge management, specifically the design of information systems to support effective information sharing and use. My research is focused on defining and measuring outcomes associated with work-integrated learning in a graduate professional training environment.

Furness was a consultant for nearly 15 years. This coincided with his time as a Sessional Lecturer and as a scientist. According to his biography, he has only been teaching in recent years.

University of Toronto Professor Colin Furness is another “expert” that is constantly on the news, spouting out his fear-porn predictions. He appears on television often, saying that civil rights should be watered down in the name of public safety. He’s also with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, just like many Medical Health Officers in Ontario.

Even more telling are the topics that’s aren’t discussed.

The Ontario Deputy Medical Officer, Barbara Yaffe openly admitted there can be a 50% false positive rates in PCR tests. Toronto Public Health and Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott admitted that deaths “with Covid” are conflated with deaths “from Covid”. Also, the death waves that been predicted never materialized, so that has been replaced with “case counts”. These are just a few problems the “experts” will not address.

Out in B.C., Bonnie Henry openly admits there is no science behind limiting group sizes. She has also flip flopped on the importance of masks, and backtracked on the reliability of PCR tests. In fact, the BCCDC admitted in April 2020 that PCR tests can’t actually determine infection. Again, no pushback or addressing these points by TV experts.

The experts also won’t discuss that these vaccines have interim authorization (not approval), testing goes on until 2023, and the manufacturers are indemnified. In spite of this, they all push hard for everyone to get it. Nor will the extensive lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry be mentioned.

What’s lacking in these TV interviews is differing opinions, or at least some hard questions about how these conclusions came to be. A specific follow-up would be to ask what is the scientific basis for the proposals being made. One would think that the media would want to ask someone else just for the appearance of viewpoint diversity, but apparently not. As for Sapphire itself:

OUR PURPOSE GREW OUT OF A RECOGNIZED NEED.
We are medical professionals with frontline experience treating acutely ill and injured intensive care unit patients. Many patients have complex, absent, or inaccessible medical histories when data is needed most. Without this precision information, safe and rapid care decisions are difficult and patients are at risk of error and poor outcomes.
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We believe in the power of data and know first-hand the positive impact that access to detailed personal health records makes in our patients’ lives. Our unique digital solutions facilitate connected care and precision medicine.
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Sapphire Digital Health Solutions Inc. is a privately held business based in Waterloo, Canada comprised of a team of medical experts with a passion for leveraging technology to improve patient health.

Sapphire offers a service for digitize health records. Now, the idea of digital records is nothing new, but this company claims it to be the secure cloud-based platform, it’s simple to access, and easy to use – anytime, anywhere. Designed by Sapphire Digital’s skilled team of physicians and artificial intelligence experts, LifeSTAT™ is the most detailed and comprehensive record of your health information, and a critical tool for safe, fast, and effective care decisions by your care providers “in secure cloud-based platform, designed by Sapphire Digital’s team of physicians and artificial intelligence experts, LifeSTAT™ is the most detailed and comprehensive record of your health information, and a critical tool for safe, fast, and effective care decisions by your care providers.”

With continuous lockdowns, lack of access to physical medical care, and the AI revolution, companies like Sapphire are in a position to profit from this. However, the best way to guarantee continued growth and demand is to ensure that there isn’t a proper reopening of society any time soon.

Again, Furness has been removed on the listings as an Advisor for Sapphire. The benefits companies like this get from the lockdowns must be just a coincidence.

(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r42HYDlfwOQ
(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38MqQPBWBRw
(3) https://ihpme.utoronto.ca/faculty/colin-d-furness/
(4) https://twitter.com/TOPublicHealth/status/1275888390060285967
(5) https://www.sapphirehealth.ca/
(6) https://www.sapphirehealth.ca/about/
(7) https://archive.is/YU4pP
(8) https://www.sapphirehealth.ca/faq/
(9) https://www.sapphirehealth.ca/features/
(10) https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-furness-a52736/

May 13, 2021March 18, 2022

Meet Kashif Pirzada: Shilling For More Lockdown Measures, While He Has Interests On The Side

Kashif Pirzada is frequently on the media circuit, telling people to be afraid. He openly calls for more restrictions, forced masks, forced testing and more. He openly admits that necessary preventative care is being put off, but he supports doing it anyway.

Kashif Pirzada is yet another “expert” making the rounds on the media circuit. He promotes vaccines, pharmaceuticals, masks, lockdowns, travel restrictions and other measures of medical tyranny. He’s an Associate Professor at McMcaster University, and a graduate of the University of Toronto, and former Lecturer and Governor there. Pirzada has many interesting connections that need looking into.

Let’s start off with his school, McMaster University, which is located in Hamilton. What can we find out there?

1. Pirzada A Professor At McMaster University

Link to search IRS charity tax records:
https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/

Let’s clarify here: there are actually 2 separate entities. The Foundation is the group that distributes money to various organizations and institutions. The Foundation Trust, however, is concerned primarily about asset management.

BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
EIN: 56-2618866
gates.foundation.taxes.2016
gates.foundation.taxes.2017
gates.foundation.taxes.2018

BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION TRUST
EIN: 91-1663695
gates.foundation.trust.taxes.2018

McMaster University has been receiving large donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in recent years. According to the Foundation’s own records, the school got some $21 million from 2015 to 2019. This isn’t to say for sure that the people are compromised, but that is a lot from just one group.

McMaster publicly claims to have isolated the virus that causes Covid-19. That that sounds impressive, it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. The organization, Fluoride Free Peel, served McMaster with a freedom of information request to access those records. Apparently, they don’t actually exist.

2. Pirzada Part Of NGO: Masks4Canada

Pirzada is part of the group Masks4Canada, which openly calls for mandatory masks on people. All in the name of “science” of course. Several prominent names are also there, including professional speaker Abdu Sharkawy.

We are a grassroots volunteer group of physicians, media, data scientists, marketing specialists, technologists, lawyers, engineers, students, teachers, parents, and advocates. We provide expertise and time in advocating for our cause, and our initiative is based on scientific research.

Our mission is to inform and educate all levels of the Canadian government and the public about the critical role of masks and/or face coverings in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. Mandatory masking in high-risk settings, in addition to physical distancing and hand hygiene, will help save lives and the economy.

We do not sell masks or medical supplies. We do not endorse or partner with any for-profit companies or organizations, nor will we receive or ever receive any funding from a foundation, corporation, union, registered third party association, or political group.

It’s not bad enough that this group wants force masks on everyone, including children. They openly call for full blown tyranny. Consider this April 12, 2021 letter:

We need national standards, either as a condition of receiving federal money or, if necessary, imposed under an order or regulation under the various existing federal acts referenced above. In particular, we need national standards governing:

1. Metrics-driven restrictions. We need national standards that use critical metrics such as reproduction rate
(R), test positivity, and healthcare capacity to trigger the imposition or lifting of restrictions on the opening
of businesses, schools, and other publicly accessible spaces. These metrics should be made public and
trackable.

2. Consistent travel restrictions. International, interprovincial, and interregional travel should be permitted only between areas where there are similarly low levels of COVID-19 cases and these restrictions need to be consistently enforced so as to avoid constant re-introduction of new cases. Quarantine protocols for essential travel between provinces should be standardized

3. Consistent responses to exposures.
a. Isolation: We need national standards for the duration of self-isolation for patients who had an exposure or are diagnosed with COVID-19. These standards may need to change in response to variants.
b. Sick Days: We also need nationally mandated paid sick days for essential workers to support time off for vaccination or testing as well as self-isolation as needed, as these groups are driving infections in the third wave.

4. Masking. Masking needs to be mandatory in public indoor spaces, including all schools and workplaces, regardless of distancing. This mask mandate should be supported by clear and consistent mask quality requirements (e.g. ASTM certification) and the distribution of N95 or equivalent masks to the Canadian population.

5. Testing. We need to expand and normalize the use of mass rapid testing as a screening tool in schools, workplaces, and health care facilities, and make rapid testing widely available to the general public. Such uses should be consistent across Canada.

6. Aerosol mitigation. ASHRAE and PHAC recognize that COVID-19 is primarily an airborne disease. We need national rules about minimum requirements for HVAC systems, air filtration, and indoor air purity, particularly for congregate settings such as LTCs, large workplaces, and our schools using guidelines such as those provided by the Harvard-Chan School of Public Health.

7. Vaccination. National standards are needed to support equitable and effective distribution. Now that elderly and Indigenous populations are largely vaccinated, it should be a national priority to vaccinate essential workers in congregate settings (e.g. school staff, workers in large workplaces), and postal codes with higher proportions of frontline workers.

8. Data. A national database with immunization information and strong privacy protections will be critical to support an effective and efficient rollout to the entire population, including those who do not have legal documentation or move between provinces or territories. Similarly, there needs to be a consistent approach to data collection across provinces, including uniform information classification and data gathering requirements to facilitate cross-jurisdictional data comparison and analysis. This will be of particular importance in following up and tracking outcomes with vaccine recipients.

How did this group go from simply calling for masks, to micromanaging every aspect of people’s lives? They openly call for travel restrictions, but don’t seem to have a problem with people in the country illegally.

3. Pirzada Founds Critical Drugs Coalition

Pirzada helped found the group Critical Drug Coalition. (Interesting that the acronym is CDC). This is supposedly a volunteer group that calls for more access to pharmaceuticals, and for more funding.

This group wants various Governments to: (a) ensure more transparency and clearer communication around essential drug supply. The drugshortages.ca website run by the Federal Government needs to be made more usable for front-line pharmacists managing drug shortages; (b) encourage domestic manufacturing capacity especially of vaccines and other critical care drugs; and (c) commit to an Critical Medications List which the government commits to ensure are always in stock through the National Emergency Stockpile.

While this may sound fine on the surface, all of the members have ties to the medical and/or pharmaceutical industries. Calling them “volunteers” is misleading, as they would stand to financially benefit from increased amounts of money from Ottawa and the Provinces.

4. Pirzada Owns EasyFit Online Exercise

Pirzada has another side business, EasyFit. It’s an online fitness business which will allow doctors to make prescriptions and monitor activity without physically visiting the office.

FOR USERS: a platform that allows them to access a virtual trainer marketplace, monitor their exercise and diet plans, compete with their friends during live group video workouts, high-quality free fitness content, and to receive personalized exercise programs prescribed by their doctors.
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FOR DOCTORS: a platform that allows them to prescribe and monitor evidence-based exercises to their patients using our intelligent exercise prescription algorithm, without resorting to opioids and other dangerous therapies.
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FOR COACHES: a platform that allows them to manage online clients and build their brand using industry-leading program builders, live video training capability, in-app messaging, auto billing and more tools to scale their business as virtual trainers.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with such an application. After all, the vast majority of people would benefit from extra exercise. However, it’s quite the coincidence that this business would grow as a result of the same lockdowns and restrictions that Pirzada supports.

5. Pirzada And Conquer Covid

Part of this was addressed in an earlier piece, but Pirzada hadn’t been focused on. Although the website is now deleted, he was (is?) part of Conquer Covid NGO. This is a group selling merchandise. The sales of the merchandise were to be used to purchase PPE for health care workers. Of course, none of this would ever be skimmed or disappear.

The organization was promoted by Doug Ford, in one of his usual cringeworthy press conferences. But he has to at least look the part.

Conquer Covid seems to have dropped off the public radar. Party this is because the commercialization and mass production of PPE has taken off. Partly it’s because goodwill seems to have disappeared.

It’s unclear exactly how much Pirzada directly profits from these enterprises. However, it appears obvious that he enjoys the limelight, and being an “expert” that people turn to. Like so many other times, a nobody is vaulted into public prominence.

6. Other Bits Of Information

Pirzada also follows Bill Gates online, according to his LinkedIn page. That makes sense, considering how much he’s donated to McMaster University in recent years.

Pirzada is also part of Ontario’s Consent and Capacity Board. His job was reviewing cases of people involuntarily detained in the mental health system. Previously, he was a coroner with the Ministry of Corrections (prisons). What an interesting backround.

He’s also been a lecturer and former Governor at the University of Toronto. This isn’t just some doctor sharing his expertise. He is very, very well connected.

7. Pirzada On Council For CPS Ontario

Pirzada is also on the Council for the College of Physicians and Surgeons for Ontario, which licenses doctors in the Province. Recently, the CPSO threatened to pull the licenses of any doctors engaging in “misinformation”. After a lot of backlash, they claimed it wasn’t meant to stifle debate.

8. Pirzada Just Tip Of The Iceberg

And no, this corruption isn’t limited to one person, or one institution. The entire system, including the Ontario Science Table, is rotten to the core.

Michael Warner is head of the Canadian Division of askthedoctor.com. Kumar Murty of OST runs a technology company called PerfectCloudIO, which stands to profit from lockdowns. Kwame McKenzie of OST led the research into the 2017 UBI project in Ontario. And on a related note: Trillium Health Partners got a $5 million gift from a company that makes face masks. Abdu Sharkawy makes a small fortune on the speaking circuit. Robert Steiner of OST, an LPC operative, claims to be the brains of PHAC, founded in 2004. Ryan Imgrund shills for lockdowns while his employer fundraises money. Isaac Bogoch is in the UofT club, is part of Ontario’s “Operation Warp Speed”, and pretends to be neutral.

May 10, 2021January 27, 2022

CV #24(D): Heidi Larson; LSHTM; VCP; Vaxxing Pregnant Women; Financed By Big Pharma

Heidi Larson is a bit of a superstar for the pharmaceutical industry, and its allies. It’s well known that GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, is heavily funded by the Gates Foundation, and big pharama. GAVI has also been lobbying the Canadian Parliament for years, and getting hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.

A bit of background information here. The VCP, Vaccine Confidence Program, is part of the LSHTM, or London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Both receive extensive funding from pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization, and Governments.

Who else is worth noting?

Board member, Carlos Alban (AbbVie)
Board member, Bill Anderson (Roche)
Board Member, Gabriel Baertschi (Grünenthal)
Board member, Anders Blanck (LIF)
Board Member, Olivier Charmeil (Sanofi)
Board Member, Alberto Chiesi (Chiesi)
Board member, Frank Clyburn (MSD)
Board Member, Eric Cornut (Menarini)
Board member, Richard Daniell (Teva Pharmaceutical Europe)
Board member, Johanna Friedl-Naderer (Biogen)
Board Member, Murdo Gordon (Amgen)
Board member, Peter Guenter (Merck)
Board member, Angela Hwang (Pfizer)
Board member, Enrica Giorgetti (Farmindustria)
Board member, Dirk Kosche (Astellas)
Board member, Jean-Luc Lowinski (Pierre Fabre)
Board member, Catherine Mazzacco (LEO Pharma)
Board member, Johanna Mercier (Gilead)
Board member, Luke Miels (GSK)
Board member, Gianfranco Nazzi (Almirall)
Board member, Oliver O’Connor (IPHA)
Board Member, Stefan Oelrich (Bayer)
Board member, Giles Platford (Takeda)
Board member, Antonio Portela (Bial)
Board member, Iskra Reic (AstraZeneca)
Board Member, Susanne Schaffert (Novartis)
Board member, Stefan Schulze (VIFOR PHARMA)
Board Member, Kris Sterkens (Johnson & Johnson)
Board member, Han Steutel (vfa)
Board member, Alfonso Zulueta (Eli Lilly)

One of the major donors of the Vaccine Confidence Project is the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). It’s Board is made of up members representing major big pharma companies.

Another donor of VCP is the Innovative Medicine Institute. Salah-Dine Chibout is on the Governing Board of IMI, and also is the Global Head of Discovery and Investigational Safety at Novartis. Additionally, Paul Stoffels is the Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson, Worldwide Chairman of Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The VCP also works closely with the World Health Organization, and is supportive of its mass vaccination agenda. The role with WHO is simply to market the programs to make them more effective.

The Gates Foundation has financial connections to WHO, GAVI, the CDC, and countless pharmaceutical companies. It is also connected to agencies that are involved in computer modelling, such as:
(a) Imperial College London, Neil Ferguson
(b) London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
(c) Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium

While all of this is nefarious and creepy, where does Heidi Larson fit into this? What role does she play in the system?

Larson works for both VCP and LSHTM. Her job is mostly one of research and consulting into “increasing vaccine confidence”. In layman’s terms, she is looking into ways to convince segments of the population to get vaccines at higher rates. This doesn’t involve research into CREATING safer and more effective products. Instead, it’s done to CONVINCE people that they already are. Her financial connections to companies like GSK and Merck likely influence her work.

Larson and her cronies apparently see nothing wrong with targeting pregnant women, who are the focus of the following article. Yes, damn the consequences, let’s vaxx the preggers. This, and the following information should horrify and enrage normal people.

5. Conclusion
This literature review has shown that both pregnant women and HCW cite safety concerns as a main barrier to obtaining/providing influenza and pertussis vaccines during pregnancy. However responses differed depending on geographical area: inlow-income countries for example, pregnant women were more likely to cite access issues as a barrier to vaccination. There are alsowide gaps in knowledge regarding the attitudes of HCW to vaccination in pregnancy, which is significant considering the impact they have on a woman’s decision to vaccinate.
.
From the supply side, regulatory agencies still do not have a licensing pathway for many vaccines for pregnant women, manufacturers remain concerned about liability and providers perceive that pregnant women are unwilling to accept vaccines [95].
.
As the MDG era comes to an end, the development agenda beyond 2015 is widening to include other important health issues such as non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, neither still-births nor neonatal deaths are mentioned in post-2015 documents [96] risking that the current momentum for new-born health may be lost.
.
Barriers to vaccination in pregnancy are complex and can differ from barriers and concerns affecting uptake of routine childhood vaccinations. Maternal vaccination is administered at a time when the patient is cautious about various behaviours, including taking medications and vaccinations, and feels responsible for not just her own life but of that foetus. Depending on the cultural context, different norms are also established around the time of pregnancy. Barriers also vary depending on context and target population.
.
Taking these points into account, ‘quick-fix’ interventions which aim to increase vaccination uptake, such as health communication messages and training physicians in communication strategies [97], without understanding addressing the root cause of vaccine hesitancy in specific contexts, are likely to have little effect on patients’ decisions to vaccinate or on the provider’s own confidence in communicating with parents about vaccines.
.
It is important to understand how cultural and gender dynamics in different settings can influence a woman’s decision to vaccinate. This can be done through in-depth local ethnographies, taking the views of all community members and influencers into account, complemented by in-depth individual interviews and focus groups. Research could also examine some of the complex socio-political reasons for under-vaccination in certain communities must to inform vaccination policies and delivery strategies. With more understanding of the perspectives of pregnant women, their providers and communities, maternal vaccine strategies will be more likely to reach and protect pregnant women and their newborns from preventable disease.

Rather than reading the entire paper, that’s the conclusion. First, it’s pointed out that vaccine manufacturers are concerned about liability. So they are fully aware of the damage and exposure their products can bring. Second, it’s acknowledged that women feel responsibility for not just themselves, but the baby as well. This can be manipulated and it ties into the third point, that specific messaging needs to be used on this group. Fourth, specific training to “sell” the vaccines will likely be needed. Fifth, it is higher vaccination rates, not overall safety, that is the focus.

The reference list is extensive.
Check out the actual paper.

That is interesting. Not only is Larson working for the LSHTM and Vaccine Confidence Program, but she has also been employed by pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.

Vaccine confidence concerns the belief that vaccination – and by extension the providers and range of private sector and political entities behind it – serves the best health interests of the public and its constituents. The Oxford English Dictionary defines confidence as “the mental attitude of trusting in or relying on a person or thing”. In light of that, we are not examining the well-studied domain of supply and access barriers to vaccination, but rather what is typically called the “demand” side of immunisation. However, our focus on confidence takes the “demand” rubric a step further than the more traditional notion of building demand through increasing knowledge and awareness of vaccines and immunisation to understanding what else drives confidence in vaccines, and the willingness to accept a vaccine, when supply, access and information are available. In other words, understanding vaccine confidence means understanding the more difficult belief-based, emotional, ideological and contextual factors whose influences often live outside an immunisation or even health programme but affect both confidence in and acceptance of vaccines.

The Vaccine Confidence Program believes that vaccines are good for humanity. It’s a part of the LSHTM, which is one of the biggest modelers of CV-19, predicting death waves. It also receives funding from drug companies who have a product to sell. What we have is a situation where the manufacturers, sales agents, and marketers work together under some humanitarianism guise.

October 2020, Larson co-chaired a panel on combatting pandemic misinformation. It was hosted by LSHTM and Center for Strategic and International Studies.

December 2020, Larson tweeted out — but did not condemn or question — a JAMA Network article discussing mandatory vaccinations.

January 2021, LSHTM tweeted (and Larson retweeted) a Telegraph article on combatting misinformation

January 2021, Larson was at the Pulitzer Center for a talk on combatting misinformation around CV vaccination. A look at their donors reveals the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Facebook, Omidyar Network, Planned Parenthood, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

March 2021, Larson wrote a piece for the New York Times, in support of AstraZeneca. The basic premise was that the AZ vaccine was safe, and that only public perception and confidence were keeping it from being distributed. She also called for “training vaccinators” in such a way to boost the image among others. In short, train people to better sell the product.

Now, this may be a coincidence, but some of the same companies that are paying for Larson’s work “increasing vaccine confidence” are also lobbying Ottawa to buy their products.

Side note with GlaxoSmithKline: Larson has disclosed being a consultant for the company. Now, in 2009, Canada gave Interim Authorization (not approval), to 2 vaccines for H1N1, Arepanrix and Monovalent Vaccine. Lawsuits were filed because the injections harmed a lot of people, but:

[19] The federal Minister of Health authorized the sale of the Arepanrix vaccine pursuant to an interim order dated October 13, 2009. Human trials of the vaccine were still underway. The Minister of Health is empowered to make interim orders if immediate action is required because of a danger to health, safety or the environment. In issuing the interim order, Health Canada deemed the risk profile of Arepanrix to be favourable for an interim order. The authorization was based on the risk caused by the current pandemic threat and its danger to human health. As part of the interim order process, Health Canada agreed to indemnify GSK for any claims brought against it in relation to the administration of the Arepanrix vaccine.

That’s one way to have high confidence in your product: make any sale contingent on getting legal immunity in advance. It’s fair to assume this latest batch came with the same conditions.

Larson’s career appears to have taken off in 2000, then she went to work for UNICEF. No surprise, but she was pushing mass vaccination even then. The bulk of her career appears to be acting as a mouthpiece for big pharma.

Canada announced the launch of a vaccine injury compensation program in December 2020, but so far, so follow-ups have been mentioned.

An interesting side note with Larson’s Twitter profile: she claims that she “did this reluctantly”. That is a strange comment. Does she not believe in what she pushes on the global population?

Anyhow, if nothing else is taken away from here, remember this: the “vaccine confidence” movement is funded by big pharma. They want to convince you that their products are safe. Just ignore the testing issues, and the indemnification agreements.

(1) https://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
(2) https://www.vaccineconfidence.org/team
(3) https://www.vaccineconfidence.org/partners-funders
(4) https://archive.is/Ah9Pw
(5) https://www.efpia.eu/
(6) https://www.efpia.eu/about-us/who-we-are/
(7) https://www.imi.europa.eu/about-imi/governance/governing-board
(8) https://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/initiative/communication/network/vaccineconfidenceproject/en/
(9) Vaccination During Pregnancy Propaganda Research
(10) Vaccine Acceptance During Pregnancy Research
(11) https://www.vaccineconfidence.org/vcp-mission
(12) https://twitter.com/ProfHeidiLarson
(13) https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-larson-07b535119/
(14) https://www.csis.org/analysis/call-action-csis-lshtm-high-level-panel-vaccine-confidence-and-misinformation
(15) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2774712?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=content-shareicons&utm_content=article_engagement&utm_medium=social&utm_term=122920#.X-uxuv4Z2-I.twitter
(16) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/meet-scientists-tackling-vaccine-misinformation-tiktok/
(17) https://pulitzercenter.org/event/covid-19-vaccines-combating-misinformation
(18) https://pulitzercenter.org/about/donors
(19) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/opinion/astrazeneca-vaccine-trust.html
(20) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca
(21) https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/drug-products/legislation-guidelines/interim-orders.html
(22) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2019/2019onsc7066/2019onsc7066.html
(23) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Larson
(24) https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2020/12/government-of-canada-announces-pan-canadian-vaccine-injury-support-program.html

CANUCK LAW ON “VACCINE HESITANCY”
(A) Canada’s National Vaccination Strategy
(B) The Vaccine Confidence Project
(C) More Research Into Overcoming “Vaccine Hesitancy”
(D) Psychological Manipulation Over “Vaccine Hesitancy”
(E) World Economic Forum Promoting More Vaccinations
(F) CIHR/NSERC/SSHRC On Grants To Raise Vaccine Uptake
(G) $50,000 Available — Each — For Groups To Target Minorities
(H) Canada Vaccine Innovation Community Challenge

Category: NGO/CS

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

1. Kenzie McKeegan

2. Dan Mader

3. Jill Wilson

4. Chris Froggatt

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

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Sister Of Pro-Lockdown Mayor John Tory A Board Member At Bell (Which Received CEWS, Tax Breaks)

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(Amended) Colin Furness And Sapphire Health

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Meet Kashif Pirzada: Shilling For More Lockdown Measures, While He Has Interests On The Side

1. Pirzada A Professor At McMaster University

2. Pirzada Part Of NGO: Masks4Canada

3. Pirzada Founds Critical Drugs Coalition

4. Pirzada Owns EasyFit Online Exercise

5. Pirzada And Conquer Covid

6. Other Bits Of Information

7. Pirzada On Council For CPS Ontario

8. Pirzada Just Tip Of The Iceberg

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CV #24(D): Heidi Larson; LSHTM; VCP; Vaxxing Pregnant Women; Financed By Big Pharma

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1. Kenzie McKeegan

2. Dan Mader

3. Jill Wilson

4. Chris Froggatt

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1. Pirzada A Professor At McMaster University

2. Pirzada Part Of NGO: Masks4Canada

3. Pirzada Founds Critical Drugs Coalition

4. Pirzada Owns EasyFit Online Exercise

5. Pirzada And Conquer Covid

6. Other Bits Of Information

7. Pirzada On Council For CPS Ontario

8. Pirzada Just Tip Of The Iceberg

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