Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- rubicon_strategy [2021/12/14 19:47]
liam [Sarah Letersky]
+++ rubicon_strategy [2022/09/13 09:30] (current)
liam [Mike Coates]
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 ====== Rubicon Strategy ======
-{{:rubiconstrategylogo1.png?400|}}
+{{ :rubiconstrategylogo1.png?200|}}
-Rubicon Strategy is a lobbying firm with offices in Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario.((Rubicon Strategy Inc. //Government Relations - Toronto.// Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://rubiconstrategy.com/government-relations/toronto)) The company was co-founded by Kory Teneycke and Mike Coates, and represents a number of companies and organizations with interest in the COVID-19 crisis.
+**Rubicon Strategy** is a lobbying firm with offices in [[Ottawa]] and [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]].((Rubicon Strategy Inc. //Government Relations - Toronto.// Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://rubiconstrategy.com/government-relations/toronto)) The company was co-founded by [[Kory Teneycke]] and [[Mike Coates]], and represents a number of companies and organizations with interest in the [[COVID-19]] crisis.
 ===== Background =====
-Teneycke served as Campaign Manager for [[Doug Ford]]’s successful campaign for Premier of Ontario in 2018.(( Maher, S. (2019, January 30). //For access to the Ford government, two names matter most.// Macleans. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.macleans.ca/politics/for-access-to-the-ford-government-two-names-matter-most/)) He incorporated Rubicon Strategy on June 27, 2018, corporate filings show, just 20 days after the election.((Canada Corporation Directory. (2018, November 19). //RUBICON STRATEGY INC.// Retrieved November 23, 2021, from
+Teneycke served as Campaign Manager for [[covid-19_pandemic:politics:Doug Ford]]’s successful campaign for Premier of Ontario in 2018.(( Maher, S. (2019, January 30). //For access to the Ford government, two names matter most.// Macleans. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.macleans.ca/politics/for-access-to-the-ford-government-two-names-matter-most/)) He incorporated Rubicon Strategy on June 27, 2018, corporate filings show, just 20 days after the election.((Canada Corporation Directory. (2018, November 19). //RUBICON STRATEGY INC.// Retrieved November 23, 2021, from
 https://www.canadacompanyregistry.com/companies/rubicon-strategy-inc/))
 While Teneycke is prevented by law from representing clients to the government he helped elect, he can legally profit through the junior colleagues he employs at Rubicon.(( Office of the Integrity Commissioner. (2020, June 1). //What is a conflict of interest and how does it affect my lobbying?// Retrieved December 3, 2021, from http://www.oico.on.ca/home/lobbyists-registration/interpretation-bulletins/what-is-a-conflict-of-interest-and-how-does-it-affect-my-lobbying))
-On March 17, 2020, a state of emergency was declared by Premier Doug Ford using the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, following the [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=World_Health_Organization|World Health Organization]]’s declaration of a pandemic six days prior.((Rodrigues, G. (2020, March 18). //Ontario government declares state of emergency amid coronavirus pandemic.// Global News. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://globalnews.ca/news/6688074/ontario-doug-ford-coronavirus-covid-19-march-17/)) ((Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). //WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic.// Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis, 91(1), 157–160.
+On March 17, 2020, a state of emergency was declared by Premier Doug Ford using the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, following the [[World Health Organization]]’s declaration of a pandemic six days prior.((Rodrigues, G. (2020, March 18). //Ontario government declares state of emergency amid coronavirus pandemic.// Global News. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://globalnews.ca/news/6688074/ontario-doug-ford-coronavirus-covid-19-march-17/)) ((Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). //WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic.// Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis, 91(1), 157–160.
 https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i1.9397)) ((//Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.9.// Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90e09))
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 Teneycke is the co-founder and CEO of Rubicon Strategy. He has a long resume in Canadian politics and business. He served as Director of Communications to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from July 7, 2008 until shortly after July 28, 2009.((The Canadian Press. (2008, July 4). //Harper selects new communications director.// Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from
 https://archive.ph/Gf5db)) ((CTV.ca News Staff. (2009, July 28). //Harper’s communications director to step down.// CTVNews. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from
-https://www.ctvnews.ca/harper-s-communications-director-to-step-down-1.420839)) He has weaved through various media roles including consulting and executive roles at SUN TV, and as a “pundit” on CTV and CBC (where he still writes opinion pieces).((Vongdouangchanh, B. (2009, August 31). Former PMO communications director Teneycke joins SUN TV. Hill Times. Retrieved November 27, 2011, from https://archive.ph/AQLpT)) ((CBC News. //Kory Teneycke.// Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/author/kory-teneycke-1.5436229))
+https://www.ctvnews.ca/harper-s-communications-director-to-step-down-1.420839)) He has weaved through various media roles including consulting and executive roles at SUN TV, and as a “pundit” on [[CTV News]] and [[CBC]] (where he still writes opinion pieces).((Vongdouangchanh, B. (2009, August 31). Former PMO communications director Teneycke joins SUN TV. Hill Times. Retrieved November 27, 2011, from https://archive.ph/AQLpT)) ((CBC News. //Kory Teneycke.// Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/author/kory-teneycke-1.5436229))
 He returned to politics in 2015 to act as Chief Spokesman for the Conservative Party in advance of that year’s federal election.((Ditchburn, J. (2015, March 18). //Sun News personalities join, or rejoin, Conservative Party fold.// The Globe and Mail. Retrieved
@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 https://pressprogress.ca/top-doug-ford-adviser-says-private-text-messages-show-mpp-promoted-covid-19-vaccine-conspiracies/)) Nicholls announced he would not abide by the Progressive Conservative Party’s “mandatory vaccination” policy, which was swiftly followed by his public dismissal by Premier Doug Ford.((Newsblocks. (2021, August 20). //CK residents have mixed reaction to MPP Rick Nicholls refusal to be vaccinated.// Retrieved December 5, 2021, from
 https://news-blocks.com/2021/08/20/ck-residents-have-mixed-reaction-to-mpp-rick-nicholls-refusal-to-be-vaccinated/))
+His confrontational attitude predates COVID-19. During a February 2020 Convention for the Ontario PC Party, he remarked that Ford’s critics are protesting in the streets not because of cuts to education or attacks on workers’ rights, but because they have “gotten fat off the largesse of past regimes.”((PressProgress. (2020, February 24). //Doug Ford’s Campaign Manager Insulted Teachers and the Media Behind Closed Doors at the Ontario PC Convention.// PressProgress. https://pressprogress.ca/doug-fords-campaign-manager-insulted-teachers-and-the-media-behind-closed-doors-at-the-ontario-pc-convention/))
 Teneycke incorrectly stated that “pharmaceutical companies are not lobbying for [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=vaccine_passport|vaccine passports]] anywhere in the world, to his knowledge, citing the ‘near infinite’ demand for their Covid shots.” Today, this is misleading at best, given that several countries have explicitly asked the companies in question to stop sending doses due to oversupply and lack of demand.((Kew, J., & Cele, S. (2021, November 24). //South Africa Asks J&J, Pfizer to Stop Sending Vaccines.// BNN Bloomberg. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-africa-asks-j-j-pfizer-to-stop-sending-vaccines-1.1686641)) (( Arora, N., Das, K. N., & Ahmed, A. (2021, September 21). //India govt won’t buy Pfizer, Moderna vaccines amid local output -sources.// Reuters. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from
-https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-govt-wont-buy-pfizer-moderna-vaccines-amid-local-output-sources-2021-09-21/)) At worst, he is knowingly lying given that Rubicon represents [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=Providence_Therapeutics|Providence Therapeutics]] who are themselves making a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine product, and who specifically mention influence over “vaccine passports” in the lobbying registration.
+https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-govt-wont-buy-pfizer-moderna-vaccines-amid-local-output-sources-2021-09-21/)) At worst, he is knowingly lying given that Rubicon represents [[pharmaceutical_companies:Providence Therapeutics]] who are themselves making a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine product, and who specifically mention influence over “vaccine passports” in the lobbying registration.
 ==== Mike Coates ====
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 {{:d0sl9txh_400x400.jpeg?200 |}}
-Coates is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Rubicon Strategy. He has been a contributor to the Huffington Post, and CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies (which is associated with the business community of the [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=World_Economic_Forum|World Economic Forum]]).((4 Coates, M. (2015, May 25). //What Was Really Being Talked About in Davos.// HuffPost. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/talk-davos-_b_6594868)) ((Grønntun, L. E. (2020, January 22). //WILL 2020 BE A TIPPING POINT FOR SUSTAINABILITY?// Hill+Knowlton Strategies. Retrieved
+Coates is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Rubicon Strategy. He has been a contributor to the Huffington Post, and CEO of [[Hill+Knowlton Strategies]] (which is associated with the business community of the [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=World_Economic_Forum|World Economic Forum]]).((4 Coates, M. (2015, May 25). //What Was Really Being Talked About in Davos.// HuffPost. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/talk-davos-_b_6594868)) ((Grønntun, L. E. (2020, January 22). //WILL 2020 BE A TIPPING POINT FOR SUSTAINABILITY?// Hill+Knowlton Strategies. Retrieved
 December 4, 2021, from https://www.hkstrategies.com/en/will-2020-be-a-tipping-point-for-sustainability/))
@@ Line 84: / Line 86: @@
 Alongside her colleague Mike Coates, Letersky is also lobbying for Providence Therapeutics. Rather than funding, however, her focus is ensuring that “individuals participating in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, as approved by [[Health Canada]], are eligible to enter and work in places where proof of vaccination is required.”((Registration No. CL4899-20211021027307 with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner)) This almost certainly refers to Providence’s own mRNA COVID-19 vaccine product in development.
-Further, Letersky represents [[Innovative Medicines Canada]], an association of pharmaceutical companies that includes COVID-19 vaccine developers [[AstraZeneca]], [[Janssen]]/[[Johnson & Johnson]], and [[Pfizer]], as well as [[AbbVie]], [[Amgen]], [[Bayer]], [[Bristol-Myers Squibb]], [[Eli Lilly]], [[Emergent Biosolutions]], [[Gilead]], [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=gsk|GlaxoSmithKline]], [[Roche]], [[Medicago]], [[Merck]], [[Novartis]], [[Sanofi]] and roughly a dozen others.(( Innovative Medicines Canada. //Member Companies.// Retrieved November 2, 2021, from http://innovativemedicines.ca/about/member-companies/)) Their lobbying seeks to “collaborate with government to ensure ‘Transfer of Value’ Regulations avoid unintended consequences and support a sustainable, balanced and credible approach” surrounding the “Health Sector Payment Transparency ACT”.((Registration No. CL4899-20200917025456 with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner))
+Further, Letersky represents [[Innovative Medicines Canada]], an association of pharmaceutical companies that includes COVID-19 vaccine developers [[AstraZeneca]], [[Janssen]]/[[Johnson & Johnson]], and [[pharmaceutical_companies:pfizer|Pfizer]], as well as [[AbbVie]], [[Amgen]], [[Bayer]], [[Bristol-Myers Squibb]], [[Eli Lilly]], [[Emergent Biosolutions]], [[Gilead]], [[https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=gsk|GlaxoSmithKline]], [[Roche]], [[Medicago]], [[Merck]], [[Novartis]], [[Sanofi]] and roughly a dozen others.(( Innovative Medicines Canada. //Member Companies.// Retrieved November 2, 2021, from http://innovativemedicines.ca/about/member-companies/)) Their lobbying seeks to “collaborate with government to ensure ‘Transfer of Value’ Regulations avoid unintended consequences and support a sustainable, balanced and credible approach” surrounding the “Health Sector Payment Transparency ACT”.((Letersky, S. (2021, September 22). //Consultant Lobbyist Registration No. CL4899-20200917025456.// Office of the Integrity Commissioner; Government of Ontario. https://www.campfire.wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=screencapture-lobbyist-oico-on-ca-pages-public-publicsearch-consultantlobbyistpreview-aspx-2022-01-02-12_44_20.pdf))
 Doubling down on Janssen Inc, she is actively lobbying for the company to “engage in discussions with MPPs and staff about current and emerging policies impacting the evaluation, marketing, sale or use of pharmaceutical products in Ontario.” In particular, the registration references the “pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, National Pharmacare, Changes to the Patented Medicines Product Review Board, The use of real-world evidence in the evaluation of pharmaceutical products.” Finally, Letersky is engaging MPPs and staff directly “that have questions about the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.”((Registration No. CL4899-20200917025455 with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner))
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 ==== Jan O'Driscoll ====
+{{:ndi_piwz_400x400.jpeg?200 |}}
 O’Driscoll is Senior Vice President at Rubicon Strategy. He formerly served as Chief of Staff for three Ford Cabinet ministers - Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (July to November 2018), Minister of Transportation (November 2018 to June 2019), and Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks (June 2019 to January 2020). He was hired at Rubicon the same month he left his prior position.((LinkedIn. //Jan O’Driscoll.// Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jan-o-driscoll-0981651a))
@@ Line 114: / Line 118: @@
 ==== Patrick Harris ====
+{{:screen_shot_2021-12-14_at_10.50.10_am.png?200 |}}
 Harris is Managing Partner at the Toronto office for Rubicon Strategy who “changes government policy”. This is literally true, as he is the 4th Vice President of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.((PC Party of Ontario. //Patrick Harris – PC Party of Ontario.// Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://ontariopc.ca/team/patrick-harris-2/))
@@ Line 134: / Line 140: @@
 ==== Christine Simundson ====
+{{:screen_shot_2021-12-14_at_10.51.40_am.png?200 |}}
 According to her bio on Rubicon’s front page (where she is a Senior Consultant) Simundson worked in the “war room” for the PC Party’s 2018 election campaign that led to Ford’s election. She claims her guidance “elected 17 of the PC MPPs in Peel Region, Halton, Toronto and Northern Ontario.”
@@ Line 142: / Line 150: @@
 ==== Stephanie Delorme ====
+{{:screen_shot_2021-12-14_at_10.52.33_am.png?200 |}}
 Delorme is Director of Operations at Rubicon. Prior to this, she worked alongside her Rubicon colleagues for the PC Party’s 2018 election campaign, the Manager, Caucus Tour for the House of Commons and the Conservative Research Bureau, and President of the Conservative Party Electoral District Association for Ottawa-Vanier.((LinkedIn. //Stephanie Delorme.// Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://ca.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-delorme-505a7a22)) ((Conservative Party of Canada. (2020, January 23). //Ottawa-Vanier.// Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.conservative.ca/eda/ottawa-vanier/)) ((OpenGovCA. //Stephanie Delorme · Manager, Caucus Tour · House of Commons · 131 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6. //Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://opengovca.com/employee/Delorme,_Stephanie)) ((Goc411. //Stephanie Delorme.// Retrieved December 5, 2021, from http://www.goc411.ca/en/158547/Stephanie-Delorme))
@@ Line 147: / Line 157: @@
 She also worked at Sun Media as the Office Manager of their Parliamentary Bureau from 2011 until 2015.((Apollo.io. //Stephanie Delorme - Senior Consultant - Rubicon Strategy Inc | Business Profile.// Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.apollo.io/people/Stephanie/Delorme/54a6358c7468693b8c3e7fcb)) Delorme’s former lobbying clients were KWG Resources Inc, [[IBM]] Canada and PearTree Financial Services Limited.((Registration Nos. CL4370-20190626023195, CL4370-20190215022302 and CL4370-20190128022169 with the Office of the Integrity Minister))
 ==== Tim Smitheman ====
+{{:screen_shot_2021-12-14_at_10.53.26_am.png?200 |}}
 Smithman is Vice President at Rubicon Strategy.
@@ Line 155: / Line 167: @@
 Like his colleague Patrick Harris, Smitheman is also working for Sienna Senior Living to “discuss ways that Sienna Senior Living can assist with the ongoing COVID-19 recovery efforts and planned LTC sector transformation.”((Registration No. CL5107-20211001027202 with the Office of the Integrity Minister))
+==== Andrew Balfour ====
+{{ ::screen_shot_2022-04-07_at_11.56.29_pm.png?200|}}
+[[Andrew Balfour]] is a Managing Partner for the Ottawa branch of Rubicon Strategy.
+He lobbies the [[House of Commons of Canada]] on behalf of [[pharmaceutical_companies:Innovative Medicines Canada]].((//Innovative Medicines Canada/Médicaments Novateurs Canada / Andrew Balfour, Consultant.// (2022, March 28). 12-Month Lobbying Summary - Consultant. https://web.archive.org/web/20220408070050/https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/clntSmmry?clientOrgCorpNumber=367878&sMdKy=1649399840220))