NGO/CS Archives - Page 27 of 43

May 18, 2021October 11, 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How does any of this help advance Canadian interests?

May 17, 2021October 11, 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UPDATE TO ARTICLE

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

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

May 17, 2021June 2, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

1. Kenzie McKeegan

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

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

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

2. Dan Mader

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

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

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

3. Jill Wilson

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

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

4. Chris Froggatt

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

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

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

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

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

May 17, 2021October 11, 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes, this firm has lobbied Federally too

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

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

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/

Category: NGO/CS

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

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

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