Friday, March 23, 2007

Former Harper adviser lobbying for drug firm

I'm glad the HPV vaccination program cash was included in this week's budget. However, it's really bad optics when a senior PM advisor just started to work for the only company that can benefit from the program.

From the Ottawa Citizen:
A lobbyist with past ties to Prime Minister Stephen Harper was retained last month by the drug company that stands to benefit from a newly announced $300 million in federal funding for a vaccination program to prevent cervical cancer.

Ken Boessenkool, who served as Mr. Harper's senior policy adviser until 2004, registered to lobby the federal government on immunization policy on behalf of Merck Frosst Canada. ...more

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