On this day. In the Globe and Mail. On the subject of the H1N1 scandal

Jane Taber actually blogged something interesting.

And then she pointed out that former Harper aide Ken Bossenkool is a lobbyist for GSK.

Ken Bossenkool is one of the old gang. A True Blue Canada hating reformer. A member of The Calgary School. Harper and Bossenkool go way back. And this isn't the first time a drug company has benefited by having Bossenkool lobby Harper (MEIB).

The Globe failed, however, to note Boessenkool is one of Stephen Harper's closest associates. Nor did it reveal he is a registered lobbyist working for a drug company benefitting from the surprise inclusion in the federal budget, passed last night, of $300 million for cervical cancer vaccine for girls.

Boessenkool has been Stephen Harper's close friend for years and a trusted advisor and confidant in almost all of Harper's leadership and political campaigns. He is a long-time Reform-Alliance-Conservative operative and is registered to lobby the federal government.

The Ottawa Citizen reported in February that Boessenkool registered to lobby the federal government on immunization policy on behalf of Merck Frosst Canada.

In his filings with the Registrar of Lobbyists, Boessenkool listed as his potential points of contact, the Prime Minister's Office, Health Canada, Industry Canada, Privy Council Office and MPs. ...

...

Those who read his article deserve at the least to know of Boessenkool's long and close association with Harper and the Right. The two men became friends in 1993 when Harper became the MP for Calgary West and Boessenkool began to work for Reform MP Ray Speaker. ...

Still smarting from their loss, Harper, Boessenkool, Tom Flanagan, Ted Morton and others wrote their infamous "firewall" letter ... When Harper ran for the leadership of the new Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, Boessenkool quickly stepped out of the opposition offices and back onto Harper's campaign team. ...

Boessenkool's relationship with Harper goes well beyond the professional. ... The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper. In the book, Mackey describes Boessenkool as an evangelical Christian whose children are home schooled, and as "another of Harper's spiritual mentors listened to both at the economic and the faith levels."

So to connect a few dots. A large part of the hold-up in the H1N1 vaccine delivery is due to the contract being awarded to a single company. The lobbyist for that company is a very close friend and associate of Stephen Harper with the demonstrated ability to seal the deal when it comes to landing big contracts with Health Canada. This explains some of the lame attempts to blame the Liberals for the sole source contract issue.

This issue just moved a whole lot closer to the PMO.

Update: I believe this link between Harper and the sole source of the vaccines is important so I have bumped this up.

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