Category: Corruption

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Meet Ryan Imgrund: HS Science Teacher Whose Predictions Drive Donations For Other Interests

Ryan Imgrund is a high school science teacher, and has also been a “consultant” calling for more restrictions in Ontario. However, things aren’t quite what they seem to be. Like so many “experts” in the media, no real due diligence is done before bringing them on.

About
I am a biostatistician and corporate consultant working with a several Fortune 500 companies, Ontario public health units, and a private Ontario lab. My specialty is discovering, analyzing and interpreting scientific, mathematical, economic and retail trends.

This man has been a consultant since March 2020. Interesting time to start such a business, especially as he’s supposed to be a full time educator. Unfortunately, this is far from an isolated case.

Michael Warner is head of the Canadian Division of askthedoctor.com. Kumar Murty of OST is the Chief Technology Officer of a tech 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.

Even with that in mind, Imgrund is strange for a number of reasons. Let’s go through some of them.

Imgrund’s LinkedIn profile states that he has an undergraduate degree in science, and a bachelor’s degree in education. This essentially qualifies him to be a science teacher, which is how he makes his primary living. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t show that he has any sort of expertise. (see archive here).

It’s unclear why PHAC, the Public Health Agency of Canada, would hire him in 2000, especially since he was at university, starting his junior year at that time. Presumably, he would have been preoccupied with a heavy course load.

Even if there was a typo in the start date, it’s unclear what special skills he would have brought. A superstar student would have gone higher with his career, not be teaching high school science. His profile indicates he was hired as a teacher immediately out of university.

But there is someone else here that is worth attention. Look again at those dates.

Imgrund claims to have been with the Public Health Agency of Canada back in 2000. Problem is, it didn’t exist until 2004. It was created that year due to the instigation of the World Health Organization, to be an outpost for global health measures. It was covered in detail in this earlier piece.

Perhaps he should have talked with Robert Steiner, who claims to have advised Paul Martin on its creation, before putting it on his resume.

It takes a legend (or a moron) to be working at an institution a full 4 years before it was founded. Did none of Imgrund’s other clients check him out ahead of time?

Imgrund admits that modelling is heavily based on assumptions and predictions. However, he leaves out how grossly inaccurate it has been so far. Should algorithms and formulas determine how society is run? Imgrund’s skills are what exactly?

Imgrund was also involved with the Sick Kids Hospital recommendations report, on how to “safely” reopen Ontario schools for the Fall of 2020.

One of Sick Kids Hospital’s major donors is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but that’s no reason for concern. Nor is the pattern of this, or Walied Soliman being a Director, and Chief of Staff to Erin O’Toole.

Supposedly, after Southlake Regional Health Centre saw some of his modelling, they asked him to be a consultant for them. That being said, Southlake is always asking for money from the public, so Imgrund’s work is likely to generate many more donors.

Quite simply, crisis predictions are good for business. After all, no one wants to be seen as refusing much needed funding to a hospital in the middle of a “pandemic”. It would be nice if his other clients were listed, but searching them is proving tricky.

Imgrund himself seems to love his new celebrity status. He’s frequently on the media circuit drumming up fear and paranoia about Ontarians just going about their lives.

Additionally, is Imgrund getting paid or compensated in any way for his numerous media appearances? Keep in mind, he has only been a “corporate consultant” since March 2020, so it’s not like he has a long history of doing this.

He never addresses serious questions like the virus not being isolated, PCR tests being unsuitable, the high recovery rate, or the health problems from long term mask use. Nor will he cover the documented proof of premeditation in all this. Either he is oblivious, or chooses to ignore it.

While his Twitter feed is filled with “pandemic” postings, he also never mentions potential testing and safety issues with vaccines. He seems very partial and selective about what needs covered.

And it raises the possibility of a serious conflict of interest. Working in the education system, he is supposed to put the needs of students first. However, as a “consultant” and “expert”, he and his clients financially and professionally can profit from having longer and more severe restrictions. There’s no money to be made in a crisis if that crisis goes away.

Does this man work in the best interests of the public?

(1) https://twitter.com/imgrund
(2) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-imgrund-aa944b85/
(3) https://archive.ph/OkkFr
(4) https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/corporate/mandate/about-agency/history.html
(5) https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2020/10/06/the-interview-ryan-imgrund-biostatistician-imgrund/
(6) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/statistician-worried-back-to-school-plan-risky-1.5671012
(7) https://www.sickkids.ca/siteassets/about/about-sickkids/sickkids-annual-report-2019-2020.pdf
(8) Sick Kids Hospital Major Donors
(9) https://canucklaw.ca/cv-29-the-financial-ties-between-sick-kids-hospital-and-the-gates-foundation/
(10) https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/coronavirus-covid-19-local-news/how-a-newmarket-biostatistician-is-using-rt-to-track-the-impact-of-reopening-2515509 for them.
(11) https://southlake.ca/foundation/about/your-investment-in-southlake/

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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

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

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

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

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

Éric Lamoureux
Managing Director, Montréal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(1) https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/quebec-premier-wants-ottawa-to-settle-with-snc-lavalin-so-firm-avoids-trial
(2) https://canucklaw.ca/corruption-reviews-snc-lavalin/
(3) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/eric-lamoureux/
(4) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericlamoureux/
(5) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/our-advisors/
(6) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/felix-wong/
(7) https://www.linkedin.com/in/wongfelix88/
(8) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/maryanne-sheehy/
(9) https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryanne-sheehy/
(10) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/latitia-scarr/
(11) https://www.linkedin.com/in/latitia-scarr-59a31435/
(12) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/dan-pfeffer/
(13) https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-pfeffer-95a48319/
(14) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/noah-niznick/
(15) https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahniznick/
(16) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/michael-von-herff/
(17) https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-von-herff-2aab2411/
(18) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/advSrch?V_SEARCH.command=navigate&time=1620295865125
(19) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=368615&regId=911693
(20) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/snc-lavalin-quebec-caq-1.5056385

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Public Health Ontario A Semi-Autonomous Corporation, Whose Leaders Sit With ON Science Table

According to the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion Act, 2007, the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion was created, which is now referred to as Public Health Ontario. The timing is interesting, given that its creation aligns with the 2005 Quarantine Act, which itself is the result of the 3rd Edition of the International Health Regulations from the World Health Organization.

For some background information, here is more on the WHO-IHR, the Quarantine Act, and Ontario‘s own Health Act. It’s worth also addressing PHAC, and its self-proclaimed advisor, Robert Steiner, who also sits on OST. These are not independent events, but are directly linked.

This entity (referred to as Public Health Ontario, or PHO), is set up and structured as a corporation. It’s a Crown Corporation, mostly autonomous from the Government.

Powers
7 (1) Except as limited by this Act, the Corporation has the capacity, rights and powers of a natural person for carrying out its objects. 2007, c. 10, Sched. K, s. 7 (1).

This group is to have the same rights and powers as an actual person which is not weird at all. The Act also indemnifies any employees or officers or directors from any liability, as long as they claim to be acting in good faith.

IMMUNITY AND UNPAID JUDGMENTS
No actions or proceedings against Crown
26 No proceeding for damages or otherwise shall be commenced against the Crown, the Minister or any person employed by the Crown with respect to any act done or omitted to be done or any decision of the Corporation, a director or officer of the Corporation, a member of a standing committee or a person employed by the Corporation. 2007, c. 10, Sched. K, s. 26.

Immunity from civil action
27 (1) No proceeding for damages or otherwise shall be commenced against the Minister, a director or officer of the Corporation, a member of a standing committee, or any person employed by the Crown or the Corporation, with respect to any act done or omitted to be done or any decision under this Act that is done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of a power or duty under this Act. 2007, c. 10, Sched. K, s. 27 (1); 2011, c. 1, Sched. 6, s. 7 (1).

Nothing shows that people take responsibility for their actions quite like giving them a pass for the possible consequences. There are limited provisions for taking action against the Crown itself, but not members involved.

Anyhow, that Act specifies that this corporation is to act as an autonomous and mostly independent group from the Government. This would be similar to Alberta Health Services operates.

Now, PHO is structured as a corporation, and is designed to be an arm’s length operation from the Crown. Okay. But looking at who runs it, some familiar faces appear.

  • Brian Schwartz is Vice President of PHO
  • Vanessa Allen is Chief, Microbiology and Laboratory Science at PHO
  • Jessica Hopkins, Chief Health Protection and Emergency Preparedness Officer at PHO
  • Samir Patel, Deputy Chief, Microbiology and Laboratory Science at PHO

Some interesting names in the Leadership of Public Health Ontario. Why should we care about who any of them are? There’s a really simple reason.

In case it wasn’t clear, here is the point: several high ranking members of Public Health Ontario are also members of the Ontario Science Table. Keep in mind, the OST presents itself as neutral and independent expert advice. At the same time, officials from a Crown Corporation in that same Province are part of their organization.

Considering that PHO functions as an extension of the World Health Organization, and implements their dictates, what kind of perspectives will these people bring to OST? Will they simply implement the same ideas, cloaked as “science”, or will they offer radically different policies? So far, it seems to be the former.

When these people speak at OST events and gatherings, are they talking as scientists working independently for the health of Ontarians overall? Or, are they acting in the capacity of Public Health Ontario representatives? Unless the OST is an extension of PHO, there are bound to be conflicts of interest.

It’s a bit like Theresa Tam, who has a page as the Public Health Officer of Canada, but who also as a page for a World Health Organization Advisory Committee. These people even use the same photographs.

On a related note: Deputy Prime Minister, and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland is also a Trustee at the World Economic Forum. Other prominent politicians are also involved with that organization.

The mess that is the covered before, and more is likely to be added. Far from being independent, OST is rotten to the core with conflicts of interests, and members who have side ventures.

Do the OST and Trillium Health Partners really think that mask mandates are in the public’s best interest? Or did a $5 million donation from a mask manufacturer change their minds? Does Michael Warner‘s side business influence his support for lockdowns? What About Kumar Murty‘s business interests? Or Kwame McKenzie‘s 2017 Ontario UBI project?

Final thoughts to readers in Ontario: do you have any clue who is really running health care in Ontario? Do you know who is actually running the Province? Who’s behind the martial law masked as medical necessity? Think Doug Ford or Christine Elliott are anything but puppets?

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Trillium Health Partners Gets $5 Million Grant From Company That Manufactures Face Masks

Robert Reid is a member of the Ontario Science Table. He is also on the Senior Leadership Team of Trillium Health Partners. This is important because it sets up an interesting conflict of interest.

Trillium is also a partner with the OST. So, when Reid is speaking, does he talk as a member of THP, or of the OST?

For some perspective, the OST is already a questionable organization given: (a) rampant ties the the University of Toronto; (b) conflicts of interest with its partners and members; (c) the brainchild of PHAC works for them; (d) the former research chief of the Ontario UBI pilot project works for them; (e) the groundwork for OST was laid out in 2019; and (f) another member has a technology business that benefits from lockdowns.

Ontario Deputy Medical Officer, Barbara Yaffe, is worth a long hard look. She has climbed the ranks and gained power, despite never practicing as a doctor. Another one is Michael Warner, who financially benefits from prolonged lockdowns. It’s also disturbing that NSERC/CIHR are actually paying people to act as vaccine salesmen, and cloak it as research.

Now, what does all of this have to do with Reid and Trillium? On the surface, it looks like OST’s policies are once again being influenced by special interests. Back in September 2020, word of a $5 million donation from the Como Foundation was announced to the public.

Mississauga, On (September 28, 2020) – When the pandemic hit, Max Cucchiella and his wife, Sarah Veinot, along with their family, gathered around the kitchen table in their Port Credit home to help their community. They started making non-medical masks with a clear vinyl insert in the centre, so that those who are deaf or hard of hearing and rely on lip-reading could rejoin the conversation during COVID-19. The lip-reading lens mask, called My Access Mask, is continually evolving with a commitment to quality, innovation and design. Demand took off and the family launched the Como Foundation, which today is announcing a $5 million gift to Trillium Health Partners Foundation with proceeds from mask sales. The generous donation will be used to support the redevelopment and expansion of Mississauga Hospital.

The gift is the result of local innovation, benefitting not just those who are deaf or hard of hearing and Trillium Health Partners (THP), but also McRae Imaging, a local medium-sized business hurt by lost revenue as a result of COVID-19. McRae is now producing these novel masks at a commercial volume in Ontario and is listed on the province’s Workplace PPE Supplier Directory.

How much is the mask industry thriving when a company can afford to cut a $5 million cheque, based on the proceeds from the last 8 months or so? Trillium Health Partners becomes relevant when you realize they are one of Ontario Science Table’s Partners. Not only is Robert Reid in management for THP, but he’s part of the OST as well. Trillium and Reid are in a position to press the Province for mask mandates.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency, there are in fact 2 charities: (i) Trillium Health Partners; and (ii) Trillium Health Partners Foundation. The first is the teaching hospital aspect, and in 2019, it had about $1.2 billion in revenue. The second is the fundraising arm, and in 2019, it raised about $20 million.

There is also an interesting question that needs to be asked: was any consideration given to the Como Foundation in return for this $5 million donation? In the world of public fundraising, it’s a bad idea to do anything that would harm a donor’s business. And declaring an end to the “pandemic”, or even just mask mandates, would certainly dry up a large part of the Como Foundation’s revenue.

The Como Foundation makes a specialized product: see-through masks to help with people who have disabilities read lips and understand better. While there is definitely a benefit to this, it would have been considered a niche market until about a year ago, when masks became mandated.

What was once a limited business has suddenly exploded in growth, thanks almost entirely to politicians imposing mask mandates on the public. In fact, Como’s business is doing so well, that they can make a $5 million donation to one of the Ontario Science Table’s partner organizations.

Also in September 2020, Doug Ford gave the company a public shoutout, saying that these products were absolutely necessary. Now, his Government, encouraged by the Ontario Science Table, supports mandatory masks for the foreseeable future.

Considering Health Canada only authorized their product in June 2020, they seem to have done remarkably well.

What do you think? Does this donation from Como to Trillium come with any conditions, or any “understandings”? Or is it just a coincidence?

(a) https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/
(b) http://trilliumhealthpartners.ca/aboutus/Pages/Seniorleadership.aspx
https://archive.is/1YZFu
(c) https://trilliumgiving.ca/press-releases/como-gift/
(d) https://www.thecomofoundation.ca/
(e) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDhBOmG5ZIc
(f) https://www.thecomofoundation.ca/healthcanada
Como Foundation Mask Health Authorization June 2020

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Vijaya Kumar Murty, PerfectCloudIO, Smart Villages & Covid Restrictions

Vijaya Kumar Murty, works for the Ontario Science Table, conducting mathematical modelling to “guide” the resposes of politicians on taking away our rights. Now, this group appears to be well meaning academics, but there is a lot of information not in the public arena. And Murty is another example of this happening.

Some questions are worth asking.

The OST is already a questionable organization given: (a) rampant ties the the University of Toronto; (b) conflicts of interest with its partners and members; (c) the brainchild of PHAC works for them; (d) the former research chief of the Ontario UBI pilot project works for them; and (e) the groundwork for OST was laid out in 2019.

Ontario Deputy Medical Officer, Barbara Yaffe, is worth a long hard look. She has climbed the ranks and gained power, despite never practicing as a doctor. Another one is Michael Warner, who financially benefits from prolonged lockdowns. It’s also disturbing that NSERC/CIHR are actually paying people to act as vaccine salesmen, and cloak it as research.

The Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) handed out $666,667 in 2020 to Murty and his associates to conduct modelling for CV cases and deaths. It was to last for 2 years. In 2021, he received a couple more grants of $100,000 each. One was to conduct modelling on the effectiveness of countermeasures. The other was modelling the risk to health care workers.

https://archive.is/ImPxE
https://archive.is/fIeqK
https://archive.is/FMLH5

The large February 2020 grant is explained as:

The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, in collaboration with the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Atlantic Association for Research in Mathematical Sciences, together with the Public Health Agency of Canada and international partners, is assembling a national COVID-19 Mathematical Modelling Rapid Response Task Force. Our goal is to mobilize a national network of infectious disease modellers to develop mathematical technologies to assess transmission risk of COVID-19, project outbreak trajectories, evaluate public health interventions for its prevention and control, and inform public health policy makers as well as multi-scale modelling to assist in the development of effective treatment strategies. Such a network functioned during SARS and was successful in providing real-time advice to public health officials. In the case of COVID-19, in addition to the mathematical modellers drawn from across Canada, we have the partnership of the Public Health Agency of Canada and its Coronavirus Modelling Group, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Sasketchawan, the Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation facility at York University and several research institutes in China including one at Xi’an Jiaotong University.

To be clear, computer modelling is not evidence of anything. They are predictions, and limited by both the knowledge and bias of the people involved. And as outlined earlier, the “independent” Ontario Science Table will be being both the modelling, and make the decisions what to do about it. Quite the conflict of interest.

April 2018: the Fields Institute, part of the University of Toronto, hosted a seminar on “smart villages”. The idea is self explanatory, as it would involve bringing even small and remote areas into the digital sphere. Murty was one of the speakers.

September 2018: Murty gave a speech for the Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences, or AARMS.

May 2019: Murty was chosen to be the head of the Fields Institute. The timing is interesting, as that’s also when the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases was launched by the University of Toronto.

The decision to appoint Professor Murty received unanimous approval of the Fields Institute Board of Directors. Professor Murty will lead the Institute’s continuing efforts to advance research and development of the mathematical sciences in Canada and abroad.

June 2019: The Fields Institute held a conference on the topic of “smart villages”. It was cohosted by the Canada-India Foundation, and Process Research ORTECH Inc. Murty gave a speech on innovation, inequality, and smart villages.

Quite the coincidence: the Fields Institute is pushing for smart villages, and a greater online connectedness. Murty is helping make that happen. However, Murty is also largely responsible for the alarmist computer modelling that is shutting down society, and forcing everything online.

Will PerfectCloudIO benefit from such a societal change?

It turns out that Murty is a Co-Founder and CTO of PerfectCloudIO. Although there are broken links on the Leadership section, his Wikipedia page is linked from his biography.

PerfectCloud is a Canadian cloud company developing innovative technologies to make the cloud safer. We are headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with offices in NY, USA and New Delhi, India. Our services are hosted with Firehost who have data centers located in London, Amsterdam, Singapore, and Dallas.

The website goes on to explain what Perfect Cloud is, and what they are selling to the public. Two of the products they offer are:

  • SmartSignin: the most secure way to manage access to your cloud applications for SSO for your employees, customers or partners, across multiple devices. Includes a Single Sign-On solution, Federated Identity Management, Authorization & Authentication, and Access Control & Audit.
  • SmartCryptor: encrypt your data and store it securely on desktop or cloud storage applications. Share your files or revoke access to any shared documents anytime, using any device. You have the full control over your critical data and who can access it.

In order for a company to be successful, it needs customers, and a growing base.

  • First, by promoting the doomsday computer modelling as fact, he can convince the Ontario Government (and elsewhere) to impose more restrictions. That means more people are stuck at home, and more people will be looking at computer services.
  • Second, by pushing the “Smart Villages” initiative, Murty is able to grow the market. In order to connect people the way he wants, they will need digital hookups, like the kinds of services that Perfect Cloud offers.

Far from being alone, Perfect Cloud partners with several organizations, all of whom stand to profit from the increased computerization of our society. This is mentioned on his OST disclosures. He is listed as an investor, although not active in the day to day operations.

Perfect Cloud also publishes the identities of some of its major clients. This suggests this isn’t just some start up, but a well established company.

While his association with the Fields Institute is listed, it is never made clear that advancing the Smart Villages initiative is a major goal of theirs. He’s calling for policies that will benefit him financially, even if they are against the best interests of society. Martial law in Ontario certainly is against the public interest, which is likely why this connection isn’t readily available. Not exactly transparent, is it?