A former Ministry of Health communications director and speechwriter for BC’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry recently left his position to lobby the NDP government to cash in on the public health lobbying industry – working for a company that delivers AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
According to theBreaker.news, Jean-Marc Prevost departed from his former $77,300 a year position to join NDP operative Brad Lavigne’s consulting firm Counsel Public Affairs.
Prevost is now listed as a vice-president for Western Canada with the company and his biography makes reference to Dr Henry’s praise of Prevost while he was a former communications director.
“From the first confirmed COVID-19 case to the first vaccine shot, he supported Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on their globally-recognized pandemic response. Dr. Henry acknowledged his contributions and “powerful ways with words,” in her book, Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe,” claims Prevost’s company bio.
Prevost is also credited for a photograph in Dr. Henry’s book, which was published by Knopf Canada, where her sister Lynn Henry works as a publishing director.
Lobby records show that Prevost is registered as a lobbyist on behalf of Emergent BioSolutions Canada Inc, a company which has shipped 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines across the country.
A May 12 registration which references Prevost makes mention of the company’s opioid overdose nasal spray remedy as the subject of the lobbying exchange.
Current provincial lobbying regulations bar certain public officials from lobbying within two years after leaving their positions with the government. The regulations include positions like deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers. Communications directors are not included in the policy’s scope.
Prevost has a long history of working for NDP governments in other provinces including Alberta and Manitoba.
“He held central roles in the Manitoba government under Premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger – including leading communications for two record floods and for Canada’s delegation to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,” reads his bio.
