You might have heard of the lobbying firm McKinsey & Co. They got into some hot water a year ago for aiding Russia in their quest to build up their weapons cannon. The manufacturers of those weapons hired the group to serve as their chief advisor.

They were also employed by the nation’s top tobacco producers as smoking became increasingly banned indoors. 

French President Emmanuel Macron drew the ire of his people when it was revealed he gave a billion bucks of taxpayer funds for “consulting” to the lobbying firm. He said it was for handling covid lockdown guidelines. His opponents traced much of that spending to direct political advising and connections for Macron in anticipation of his upcoming election.

You get the picture, the company can be considered corrupt by any measure.

In June of 2021, McKinsey paid $574 million in fines for teaching big pharmaceutical companies how to properly market their opioids for more robust sales, while making key industry connections.

But it doesn’t appear as if the influential organization has learned their lesson. They’re trying the same thing in Canada, as the Globe and Mail reports.

A memo reveals detailed instructions from McKinsey to Canada’s branch of Purdue Pharma on how to aggressively produce, market and sell opioids in Canada.

The lobbying firm is facing a class action lawsuit from the British Columbia government. The B.C. province has the highest amount of opioid deaths in the nation. The larger Ottawa-based government is expected to join in the lawsuit.

Prime Minister Trudeau has a bit of egg on his face and clearly seems to want to illicit some good will as he looks towards 2025’s prime minister election, where he will attempt to nab a fourth term. Canada paid $117 million in contracts to McKinsey. Canada’s support of McKinsey accounted for 10% of their profits last year.

The Canadian government was adamant that McKinsey’s entire involvement with the nation was pure. Again, as with France, the government said they were using McKinsey for Covid lock-down advice. In testimony before Parliament, a top McKinsey executive said they do “no opioid sales or marketing in Canada.”

Turned out to be a boldface lie. The memo revealed by the Globe and Mail has McKinsey saying to Canada’s Purdue, “We appreciate your interest in driving sales growth and look forward to supporting you.”

Whoops. My mother always used to say, never put anything in writing.

McKinsey also wrote they will find “what opportunities exist to change incentive compensation to better align the sales force goals to company objectives.”

Translation? Pay the corporate opioid dealers and representatives even more than they’re getting paid now, so more Canadians can overdose, allowing the lobbying firm to profit.

A McKinsey rep decided to dig in her heels in response to ever growing lawsuit and memo revelation in a hearing. “Consistent with our testimony, McKinsey and Company did not do any opioid sales and marketing work in Canada and it would be false to state otherwise. As is abundantly clear from the document itself, this was a proposal.”

Good luck proving that in court.

Conservative Member of Parliament Garnett Genius shot back in the hearing saying, “Your position is what? That in spite of paying over a half-billion dollars in compensation in the United States, you think there was no wrongdoing?”

Note how this was a Conservative member in Parliament pushing McKinsey. Trudeau is part of the opposing Liberal Party. Watch this lawsuit become a centerpiece of the 2025 election campaign, as Trudeau gets singled out for some pretty obvious corruption. Blood is on his hands.

 

 

 

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