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While Canadians were being urged to “trust the science” and line up for COVID-19 vaccines, a 2023 whistleblower lawsuit in California suggests something very concerning was happening behind the scenes.

Frank Han, Pfizer’s former director of global compliance analytics, alleges in a civil lawsuit that the pharmaceutical giant funnelled millions to what the company labelled “Potentially Influential Government Officials,” or PIGOs. According to the suit, this activity violated foreign corruption laws.

Han claims he raised red flags about potential fraudulent interactions between Pfizer and officials in China, only to be fired for doing so. Now, his lawsuit has brought attention to an unprecedented level of corporate spending on government contracts during a global health crisis.

Between the second quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2021 — spanning the pre-pandemic period through the global rollout of mRNA vaccines — Pfizer allegedly spent $168 million targeting officials in China, $12 million in the United States, and $11 million in Canada.

Canadian virologist and immunologist Dr. Byram Bridle points out that the scale is extraordinary. Canada’s pharmaceutical market is roughly one-eighteenth the size of the U.S., yet it received nearly as much money as American officials.

Why would Pfizer invest so heavily in Canadian contacts when public health agencies here typically follow U.S. guidance anyway? What positions did these officials hold, and what decisions were influenced, from vaccine procurement to lockdown policies to public messaging?

As it stands now, under Canada’s conflict of interest rules, public officials must disclose certain financial relationships, but there’s no easily searchable public record showing where Pfizer’s $11 million went.

At Rebel News, we’re filing Access to Information requests to uncover this paper trail.

Canadians deserve clarity on whether those shaping public health policy had undisclosed financial ties to a company profiting from the crisis.

If Pfizer’s payments to Canadian PIGOs were legitimate, disclosure should be straightforward, but if money influenced decisions during one of the most consequential public health crises in modern history, Canadians have a right to know and to demand accountability.

The questions are clear, but the answers remain in the hands of those who received the money.