Pierre Poilievre’s Top Advisor, Jenni Byrne, is a Major Corporate Power Broker

Jenni Byrne, among the most powerful figures behind Pierre Poilievre’s election campaign, has been described as one of the most important power brokers in Canada: “merciless,” a “ruthless tactician,” the “most powerful woman in Ottawa.” Writing in Maclean’s, Simon Lewson speculated Byrne could easily become Poilievre’s chief of staff should the Conservative leader become prime minister.

But Byrne has also been tied to two lobbying firms: one that is focused on provincial matters, primarily in Ontario, called Jenni Byrne + Associates, and another that connects clients to the federal government, Forecheck Strategies.

While Byrne has denied any involvement in Forecheck, it shares an address and much of its staff with the firm that bears her name. This has raised ethical concerns over her close proximity to the leader who could potentially become Canada’s next prime minister.

Among the clients of Jenni Byrne + Associates (JB+A) are heavy-hitting multinational corporations, some large enough to be listed on the S&P 500. Per entries in the Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia lobbyist registries, the firm’s work includes contract procurement and proposed regulatory changes on behalf of a broad range of sectors including telecommunications, retail, construction, real estate, insurance and finance.

Some of JB+A’s larger clients (and the stated topics of their lobbying) include the following:

• Retail and grocery juggernaut Loblaw Companies Ltd. (regulatory changes to liquor sales in Alberta, conservation, energy)
• Multinational consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble (conservation, energy, forestry, natural resources)
• Research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. (digital government, information technology, research and innovation, science and technology)
• Real estate developer Oskar Group (environment, housing, natural resources)
• The Alliance for Visitors Tax Refund, a group of major retailers lobbying in Alberta for post-pandemic tax relief, including Aldo Group, Birks Group, Cadillac Fairview, Global Blue, Harry Rosen, Hudson’s Bay Company, QuadReal Property Group, the Retail Council of Canada and Triple Five

According to federal lobbying records, Forecheck Strategies — which describes itself as “Canada’s fastest growing government and public relations firm” — maintains a relatively small client list. The company represents transportation company Peco Pallet Inc. and telecommunications company TekSavvy Solutions, as well as the charity Little Warriors.

In the past year, Forecheck has drawn ethical objections from multiple NDP and Liberal MPs, as well as the government accountability watchdog Democracy Watch. The company had been incorporated on the first business day after Poilievre’s victory in the Conservative Party leadership race in September 2022.

Geoff Dembicki, global managing editor at the investigative outlet DeSmog, says Byrne’s influence in both the worlds of lobbying and party politics raises the potential for problematic overlap.

“The fact that she is a powerful player in the Conservative party and at the same time runs a lobby firm, seems like a cheat code she has found, where she could use her power in the party as an outsized influence over Conservative MPs who aspire some day for higher positions on committees or even cabinet positions down the road,” Dembicki told PressProgress.

“They know Jenni has that power so of course they are going to listen. Lobbying is a multi-billion-dollar industry that is created to keep our elected officials in a bubble of controlled information. They do not work for the people, they work for massive foreign and domestic companies.”

Byrne and Forecheck stated to The Globe and Mail last year that Byrne had no involvement with Forecheck and receives no compensation from it. Forecheck also told the Globe that a previous appearance of Byrne’s photo on its site had been in error. (Neither Byrne, Forecheck nor the Conservative Party responded to requests for comment from PressProgress.)

Beyond sharing the same Toronto office address, both Forecheck and JB+A have large crossover in staff, with top-level associates and executives lobbying for both companies or acting in the same roles.

A look at the staff pages for Forecheck and Jenni Byrne + Associates shows Andrew Kimber listed as president of both. Similarly, Simon Jefferies holds the title of senior vice president of both, while also currently acting as a Conservative Party spokesperson.

Davin Shinedling is senior associate at Forecheck and vice president of JB+A, a title he shares with Michaela Johnson, who is also listed as an associate at Forecheck.

Shinedling and Jefferies both list previous work for the government of Ontario Premier Doug Ford in their company bios.

Also notable are JB+A senior associates Cassandra Duncan and Claudia Gallant, who despite not currently being listed on Forecheck’s staff page are listed in lobbying records as acting for Forecheck on behalf of clients as recently as last December, with their registrations still appearing as active.

Last year, the close relationship between the two companies and the opposition leader’s top advisor led to calls for an official government probe into the relationship between the two companies.

In an April 2024 letter to Nancy Bélanger, Canada’s Commissioner of Lobbying, Democracy Watch wrote, “Forecheck Strategies appears to be a façade or front for Jenni Byrne and Associates, created solely to allow Jenni Byrne’s associates to lobby the associates of the politician she is advising,” outlining potential violations of the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct and calling for an investigation.

Democracy Watch specifically drew attention to the following sections of the Lobbyists’ Code:

• 4.1 Never lobby an official where the official could reasonably be seen to have a sense of obligation towards you because you have a close relationship with the official.
• 4.3 Never lobby an official where the official could reasonably be seen to have a sense of obligation towards you in circumstances beyond the scope of other rules in this Code.

The letter also underlined Section 5 of the Lobbying Act, which states it is a violation for a consultant lobbyist to be paid to lobby without registering their lobbying activities.

Asked at the time about a potential investigation, Bélanger told the House of Commons’ ethics committee, “I can confirm that I am looking into that matter.”

Bélanger further told the committee she’d “need to do the work to determine if there are any breaches of the code.”

The commissioner’s office has not replied to PressProgress’s request for an update on any findings.

Provincially, JB+A has an extensive client list with over 60 active registrations listed in Ontario alone, along with inroads into other provinces including Alberta and BC.

In addition to those listed above, further companies with which Jenni Byrne + Associates has active registrations to lobby include:

• ProTowCall (software, towing operations, insurance)
• SDI Canada (medical technology)
• Greenfield Global Inc. (alcohol regulations, agriculture)
• Bilt Services (digital government, financial institutions, lotteries and gaming)
• CGI (health, hospitals, information technology)
• Groupe Gautam (universities)
• Toronto Business Development Centre (labour, citizenship and immigration)
• Fitzrovia (housing)
• Slate Asset Management (economic development, housing)
• Council of Ontario Directors of Education (education)
• Triton Canada (industry, labour, privatization, outsourcing)