Reality Check – Will Poilievre fire the lobbyists that pull the strings of his party?

Pierre Poilievre’s isn’t fooling anyone when he says he’s listening to the people, not corporate lobbyists or wealthy elites.

It’s not just his words that are rich – the Conservative Party’s governing council is too.

Let’s remember who’s giving Pierre his talking points:

• His chief strategist Jenni Byrne – a lobbyist for Galen Weston and Loblaw;
• His Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman – who helped for-profit care homes protect their profits while vulnerable seniors died in huge numbers during the pandemic;
• His Caucus Chair Scott Reid – Chairman of Giant Tiger who voted against a national school food program so that his company could keep bringing in billions in profits;
• The Conservative National Council – his party’s governing body – is stacked with lobbyists for oil and gas giants, pharmaceutical companies, and anti-union activists;
• The Corporate Lobbyists for banks, telecoms, real estate investors, and oil companies who Poilievre hosts at cash-for-access events across the country;
• The lobbyists for Big Pharma who give Pierre his voting guide on pharmacare.

“Pierre Poilievre should follow his own advice,” said NDP Ethics critic Matthew Green. “He can start by firing his own lobbyists and then he can stop listening to the billionaires and corporate CEOs he surrounds himself with.

“This guy is the definition of a hypocrite. He’s pretending that he gets what workers are going through and then, behind closed doors, he’s helping corporate lobbyists maximize the profits of the same CEOs who are ripping you off. Pierre Poilievre should come clean with Canadians about who he really is— someone who cuts the services everyday Canadians need just to give more public money to his wealthy corporate friends.”