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Canadian magnates, American influence: Stronach empire injects millions into U.S. politics – The Globe and Mail

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Source photo: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for The Stronach Group

The Stronach family’s business empire has poured at least US$24-million into U.S. politics over the past two decades.

Companies controlled by the Canadian magnates of horse racing, casinos and ranching have bankrolled hundreds of American politicians, political action committees (PACs) and referendum campaigns as the businesses sought to influence public policy south of the border.

The empire has won a string of victories: expanded gambling in three states; a contentious permit to draw water from a depleted aquifer for a Florida cattle ranch; public funding for the renovation of two Maryland race tracks; and the survival of a California track that drew fire over a rash of horse deaths.

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A Globe and Mail review of campaign finance databases and other documents, including internal Stronach company e-mails, and interviews with people involved, reveal for the first time the extent of this political activity.

Businesses controlled by Frank Stronach and his daughter, Belinda, contributed to at least 662 politicians, political parties and PACs in the U.S. The donations, which flowed from 32 different companies, often came when the Stronachs faced political hurdles.

Around the time of some contributions, Mr. Stronach personally hosted and met with political figures. Politicians held fundraisers at Adena, his cattle ranch and golf course near Ocala, Fla., and at Gulfstream Park, the Stronach-owned racetrack and casino near Miami.

Alon Ossip, a Canadian who was chief executive officer of the Stronach Group, kept watch on Gulfstream’s political contributions at the state and local levels. Mr. Ossip inquired about the status of donations, was asked to sign off on at least one, and requested ballots for a voter-registration drive, the records show.

Under U.S. campaign finance law, it is illegal for foreigners to make election campaign contributions at any level of government. Foreign owners or employees of a U.S. company are also banned from taking part in its decisions to make campaign donations.

It is legal for foreign-owned companies to donate politically, so long as the donations are controlled solely by Americans working for the company. There is no rule against foreigners attending fundraisers or contributing to referendum campaigns, though campaign finance reform advocates have long called for these laws to be toughened.

When contacted by The Globe and Mail, Mr. Stronach, 89, denied having anything to do with his companies’ political contributions in the U.S. “I wasn’t involved in any of that,” he said in a brief telephone interview.

The Stronachs in the States

These are some of the Stronach family’s U.S. assets, and

some of the significant political contributions their comp-

anies have made south of the border over the

past two decades

Stronach U.S. properties

Adena Springs

horse farm

near Paris,

Kentucky

Golden Gate

Fields horse

racing track in

Albany, Calif.

Laurel Park

horse racing

track in Laurel,

Maryland

Pimlico Race

Course

horse racing

track in

Baltimore

Santa Anita

Park

horse racing

track in

Arcadia,

California

Gulfstream Park

horse racing

track and casino

in Hallandale

Beach, Florida

Adena Farms

cattle ranch, horse

farm and formerly

golf course near

Ocala, Florida

Rosecroft

Raceway

horse racing

track in Fort

Washington,

Maryland

Significant campaign contributions

In U.S. dollars

2004 and 2005

$4.8-million

to a California

referendum that

would have allowed

casinos at racetracks

$3.7-million

to two Florida referen-

dums that legalized

slot machines at race

tracks in Broward

County

$195,000

$45,000 to then Mary-

land governor Martin

O’Malley, who pushed

the slot machine plan

and $150,000 to his

state Dem. Party

$3-million

to a referendum set-

ting up 15,000 slot

machines in Maryland

with a portion of the

revenues going to

horse tracks

$2-million opposing

a Florida referendum

intended to make future

gambling expansions

more difficult

$3.3-million

to Florida’s governing

Republican Party,

Republican-connected

PACs and Republican

candidates

adrian morrow and john sopinski/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE:the stronach group; state campaign finance

databases

The Stronachs in the States

These are some of the Stronach family’s U.S. assets, and

some of the significant political contributions their comp-

anies have made south of the border over the

past two decades

Stronach U.S. properties

Golden Gate

Fields horse

racing track in

Albany, Calif.

Adena Springs

horse farm

near Paris,

Kentucky

Laurel Park

horse racing

track in Laurel,

Maryland

Pimlico Race

Course

horse racing

track in

Baltimore

Santa Anita

Park

horse racing

track in

Arcadia,

California

Adena Farms

cattle ranch, horse

farm and formerly

golf course near

Ocala, Florida

Gulfstream Park

horse racing

track and casino

in Hallandale

Beach, Florida

Rosecroft

Raceway

horse racing

track in Fort

Washington,

Maryland

Significant campaign contributions

In U.S. dollars

2004 and 2005

$4.8-million

to a California

referendum that

would have allowed

casinos at racetracks

$3.7-million

to two Florida referen-

dums that legalized

slot machines at race

tracks in Broward

County

$195,000

$45,000 to then Mary-

land governor Martin

O’Malley, who pushed

the slot machine plan

and $150,000 to his

state Dem. Party

$3-million

to a referendum set-

ting up 15,000 slot

machines in Maryland

with a portion of the

revenues going to

horse tracks

$2-million opposing

a Florida referendum

intended to make future

gambling expansions

more difficult

$3.3-million

to Florida’s governing

Republican Party,

Republican-connected

PACs and Republican

candidates

adrian morrow and john sopinski/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE:the stronach group; state campaign finance

databases

The Stronachs in the States

These are some of the Stronach family’s U.S. assets, and some of the significant

political contributions their companies have made south of the border over the

past two decades

Stronach U.S. properties

Laurel Park

horse racing

track in Laurel,

Maryland

Golden Gate

Fields horse

racing track in

Albany, California

Pimlico

Race Course

horse racing

track in

Baltimore

Adena Springs

horse farm

near Paris,

Kentucky

Rosecroft Raceway

horse racing track

in Fort Washington,

Maryland

Santa Anita Park

horse racing track

in Arcadia, California

Adena Farms

cattle ranch, horse

farm and formerly

golf course near

Ocala, Florida

Gulfstream Park

horse racing

track and casino

in Hallandale

Beach, Florida

Significant campaign contributions

In U.S. dollars

2004 and 2005

$4.8-million

to a California

referendum that

would have allowed

casinos at racetracks

$3.7-million

to two Florida referen-

dums that legalized

slot machines at race

tracks in Broward

County

$3-million

to a referendum set-

ting up 15,000 slot

machines in Maryland

with a portion of the

revenues going to

horse tracks

$195,000

$45,000 to then Mary-

land governor Martin

O’Malley, who pushed

the slot machine plan

and $150,000 to his

state Dem. Party

$2-million opposing

a Florida referendum

intended to make future

gambling expansions

more difficult

$3.3-million

to Florida’s governing

Republican Party,

Republican-connected

PACs and Republican

candidates

adrian morrow and john sopinski/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE:the stronach group; state campaign finance databases

The Stronach Group refused to answer any specific questions about its political spending. In an e-mail, spokeswoman Tiffani Steer said “there is and has been compliance” with “applicable local and national regulations” by Belinda Stronach, 55.

Mr. Ossip’s spokesman, Paul Deegan, said Mr. Ossip may have been involved in discussions about political donations because he had to ensure there was room in the company budget for them. But Mr. Deegan said Mr. Ossip “didn’t direct” the contributions, and therefore had not broken the law.

“During Mr. Ossip’s operational tenure, which ended in January, 2017, all political participation, including all donations, was done in full compliance with all applicable U.S. legal and regulatory requirements, including all prohibitions with respect to foreign nationals,” Mr. Deegan said.

The Stronachs, of course, are no strangers to the political arena. A brash libertarian, family patriarch Mr. Stronach even ran a political party in his native Austria between 2012 and 2017. Ms. Stronach, now the Stronach Group’s chair and CEO, was a federal MP from 2004 to 2008. She ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party leadership before switching to the Liberals and serving briefly in then-prime minister Paul Martin’s cabinet.

The family companies’ U.S. campaign contributions offer a case study in how foreign-controlled business interests can thoroughly embed themselves in American political culture – and win significant policy concessions.


On a wide arterial road amid the suburban expanse north of Miami sits a seven-storeys-tall statue of Pegasus, the mythical Greek winged horse, fighting a dragon. The enormous steel and bronze sculpture, commissioned by Frank Stronach, is both a marker of Gulfstream Park’s entrance in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and the scale of Mr. Stronach’s ambition.

Born in Austria, he immigrated to Canada after the Second World War, at age 22, and made his fortune as the founder of auto parts giant Magna International Inc. By the late 1990s, Mr. Stronach turned much of his business acumen to his passion for horses. He bought up tracks across the U.S., as well as technology companies that manage betting on and televising races.

After Mr. Stronach left Magna in 2011, he held onto several horse tracks: Florida’s Gulfstream, Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park in Maryland, and Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields in California. He also kept farms in Florida and Kentucky for raising horses, and the tech companies. And he set up a cattle ranch, slaughterhouse and golf course near Ocala, alternately named Adena or Sleepy Creek. He brought all of these businesses under the umbrella of the Stronach Group.

To increase revenue from his tracks, Mr. Stronach’s companies pushed for major expansions of gambling in the U.S. From 2004 to 2020, his companies pumped more than US$17-million into referendum campaigns in six states that aimed to legalize or increase gambling at racetracks.

The contributions included US$3.7-million to two Florida plebiscites in 2004 and 2005 on the authorization of slot machines at racetracks in Broward County, just north of Miami. The referendums passed, allowing Mr. Stronach to build the casino at Gulfstream. In Oklahoma in 2004, Remington Park, a Stronach-owned horse track at the time, donated US$250,000 to a successful referendum for a slots-at-racetracks program.

In Maryland, Mr. Stronach’s empire gave US$3-million to a 2008 ballot measure that approved setting up 15,000 slot machines in the state, with a portion of the revenues given to horse tracks. His businesses also gave US$45,000 in campaign funds to then-governor Martin O’Malley, who supported the slot machine plan, and US$150,000 to Mr. O’Malley’s state Democratic Party.

These efforts didn’t always go the Stronachs’ way. In 2018, Gulfstream spent US$2-million trying to defeat a Florida ballot measure requiring all future gambling expansions to be voted on in referendums rather than authorized by the state legislature. This requirement was meant to make it much harder to allow for more gambling in the state. Voters approved it.

A seven-storey pegasus statue stands at the entry to Gulfstream Park, the Stronach-owned racetrack and casino near Miami.typhoonski/Getty Images

The Stronachs’ businesses have also given generously to politicians and PACs. The lion’s share of this spending has been in Florida.

Stronach-connected companies have given more than US$1.4-million to the Florida Republican Party, which has governed the state since the late 1990s, another US$1.4-million to Republican-connected PACs and hundreds of thousands more to individual politicians.

Florida’s Democratic Party, meanwhile, received US$700,000 and other Democratic committees got US$161,000.

Typically subject to looser rules than politicians themselves, PACs are one of the most criticized features of U.S. campaign finance. The committees are often used by campaigns to do things that political candidates would either be forbidden from doing by law or would prefer not to have their names directly associated with, such as raking in enormous corporate contributions and running attack ads.

The Stronach Group’s political involvement went beyond simply writing cheques.

Two of the company’s former employees said that, in 2017, then Florida agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam held a fundraiser at Adena Golf and Country Club, Mr. Stronach’s course near his cattle ranch. Mr. Stronach attended the fundraiser, they said. Both former staffers would speak only on condition of anonymity, for fear of jeopardizing their relationships with Mr. Stronach or his companies.

State campaign finance disclosures show more than US$18,000 in in-kind contributions to Mr. Putnam’s campaign from the Stronach-owned Adena Golf and Country Club.John Raoux/The Associated Press

State campaign finance disclosures show more than US$18,000 in in-kind contributions to Mr. Putnam’s campaign from Adena Golf, listed as “event food and beverage.” At the time, Mr. Putnam was the front-runner for the following year’s gubernatorial election.

Over the year following the fundraiser, several U.S. companies controlled by the Stronach Group gave a combined US$314,775.44 to Mr. Putnam and his PAC, Florida Grown. The donations came from eight different entities. These included Gulfstream and Adena, as well as Xpressbet and AmTote, Stronach-owned gambling technology companies based in Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively.

Marc Dunbar, then a lobbyist for the Stronach Group, confirmed Mr. Stronach attended Mr. Putnam’s fundraiser at Adena. He said the pair also often met at a house Mr. Stronach maintained on his ranch, where they dined on Adena beef and discussed policy issues.

The two talked about what the state could do to make it easier for wealthy horse owners such as Mr. Stronach to do business there, how the state could promote Mr. Stronach’s beef in supermarkets and how Mr. Putnam could help Mr. Stronach find other ranchers to use his slaughterhouse, Mr. Dunbar said.

But Mr. Dunbar said Mr. Stronach did not personally promise Mr. Putnam campaign contributions.

“Frank never had conversations with U.S. politicians about money,” said Mr. Dunbar, who served as one of the Stronach Group’s top lobbyists in Florida from 1999 to 2018. “I remember having multiple dinners with Frank Stronach and Adam Putnam, and I don’t remember a single one where political contributions were discussed.”

Structures inside the gate of Adena Golf & Country Club, a $50 million golf course developed by Frank Stronach, in Ocala, Florida. The Adena ranch was at the centre of one of the Stronach empire’s most pervasive public policy headaches.Charlotte Kesl/Globe and Mail

Reached on his mobile phone by The Globe, Mr. Stronach initially said he “wasn’t involved” in U.S. political spending. Asked specifically about Mr. Putnam’s 2017 fundraiser, and whether he had approved any donations, Mr. Stronach said: “That was many, many years ago … I don’t remember. I don’t remember.” Mr. Stronach hung up the phone. He did not respond to detailed written questions about his U.S. political activity.

Mr. Putnam, who is now the CEO of Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. conservationist group, did not answer requests for comment.

Adena was at the centre of one of the Stronach empire’s most pervasive public policy headaches.

The ranch wanted to pump millions of litres of groundwater daily to water the grass. But the St. Johns River Water Management District, an arm’s-length government agency tasked with deciding whether to issue water permits for the area, determined the aquifer was too depleted to handle Adena’s demand. In 2014, the district turned down the permit request.

Behind the scenes, former St. Johns employees said, the administration of Rick Scott, Florida’s Republican governor from 2011 to 2019, repeatedly intervened in ways that helped Adena and others seeking water permits.

Jeff Cole, then-chief of staff for the water management district, said state officials frequently asked him to change policies to allow more consumption. The calls typically came from Noah Valenstein, Mr. Scott’s environmental policy adviser, and Jon Steverson, a high-ranking staffer with the department of environmental protection, Mr. Cole said.

“It was not at all unusual for them to give direction on what they wanted to see – typically, it was water policy that was less protective of the environment and less protective of water supply,” he said.

Jim Gross, a top hydrologist at the district at the time, confirmed Mr. Cole’s account. He recalled one meeting in 2014 at which Mr. Cole told his subordinates the governor did not like the district’s planning because scientists had found that “excessive withdrawals of water” were hurting the aquifer.

In 2015, Mr. Scott’s administration purged the water management district’s leadership. Mr. Cole said he was told by John Miklos, the Scott-appointed chair of the district’s board at the time, that Mr. Cole and several other managers had to resign or they would be terminated. Another former employee of the district said he was also shown the same list of names by Mr. Miklos. Mr. Cole and the other managers on the list resigned.

After they were gone, the district switched to a different method of modelling water levels and reversed its decision on the Stronach permit. Adena ultimately received permission to pump more than 10.1 million litres per day.

Mr. Valenstein and Mr. Steverson did not respond to The Globe’s questions. Mr. Miklos declined to comment.

Other decisions by Mr. Scott and his Republican allies in the state house and senate also helped the Stronach businesses.

Celebrity Vanessa Hudgens attends the 2017 Inaugural $12 Million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, The World’s Richest Thoroughbred Horse Race At Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida.Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for The Stronach Group

In 2012, legislators passed a tax cut package that included a break specifically targeted at Adena, according to the Miami Herald. The tax break exempted slaughterhouses from paying taxes on some electricity.

Neither Mr. Scott nor Thad Altman, the state senator who sponsored the slaughterhouse tax break, responded to requests for comment.

Mr. Scott, now a federal senator, was one of the highest-level politicians to receive contributions from the Stronachs’ companies. Two PACs connected to him, Let’s Get to Work and New Republican PAC, notched a combined US$150,000.

Photographs from the 2018 edition of the Pegasus World Cup, one of Gulfstream’s marquee annual races, show Mr. Scott in attendance, posing alongside Frank and Belinda Stronach.

Several internal Stronach Group e-mail exchanges suggest that Mr. Stronach was not the only Canadian executive playing a role in the empire’s political activity.

Two days before Hallandale Beach’s local elections in November of 2016, Mr. Ossip, the company’s then-CEO, e-mailed a company lawyer to ask if Gulfstream had contributed to Bill Julian, a member of the city commission.

“Did Gsp give any money to Julian,” Mr. Ossip asked. “Even before his corruption.” Mr. Julian had been accused of taking a bribe from a developer; he was later cleared by the Broward state attorney’s office. The lawyer, Michael Fucheck, replied that the company had not contributed to Mr. Julian.

In May of that year, Michelle Martinez, an Adena employee, wrote that “Alon” had requested eight “voter registration ballots” as part of a program called the “Hallandale Beach Register to Vote Initiative.”

In a June e-mail, Mr. Fucheck filled in Mr. Ossip and several other Stronach Group employees on local political fundraisers he was organizing. “Alon, further to our conversation last week,” he began the e-mail, before detailing events he planned for two candidates to the local council.

Stronach companies put at least US$130,000 into contributions in Hallandale Beach, primarily to support a faction led by then city commissioner Keith London. In 2016 and 2018, Gulfstream was the single largest donor to Ethics Matter and 27th State, PACs supporting Mr. London and his allies.

One source with knowledge of the donations said the relevant issue for Gulfstream was a new road that Hallandale’s mayor, Joy Cooper, wanted to build over part of the company’s property. Gulfstream backed her rivals on the commission, led by Mr. London.

In an e-mail in March of 2016, Mr. London flagged for Mr. Ossip an item on an upcoming commission meeting concerning the planned road. Mr. Ossip arranged a meeting between Mr. London and a Stronach Group architect to discuss the matter.

To increase revenue from his tracks, Stronach-owned companies pumped more than US$17-million into referendum campaigns in six states that aimed to legalize or increase gambling at racetracks from 2004 to 2018.Paul Morigi/Getty Images

In May of 2016, Mr. London e-mailed Mr. Ossip and several other Gulfstream employees to ask for help thwarting a potential ethics complaint. Mr. London had used a room at a Gulfstream-owned steakhouse the previous month for an event. Ms. Cooper was now planning to file an ethics complaint against him for accepting a “gift” from Gulfstream.

Mr. London floated several possible options for pushing back, including retroactively paying Gulfstream for the room or having Gulfstream tell him that the room was free to use for anyone. “To stop her and embarrass her I have a few options but need some information,” Mr. London wrote to Mr. Ossip.

“Keith, your memory fails you. You agreed to pay $350 for the room,” Mr. Ossip replied. “It takes time to process it.”

Mr. London did not respond to The Globe’s questions.

In another e-mail thread from May of 2016, concerning US$25,000 in donations to the Florida Democratic Party, Mr. Ossip was asked to approve the spending. “Alon – are you OK with this?” Mr. Fucheck wrote. It is unclear whether Mr. Ossip responded.

In that thread, Mr. Dunbar said he had promised the donation to Oscar Braynon, the Democratic leader in the Florida state senate. Mr. Dunbar advised that the money be split between four different Stronach Group companies.

“Need to follow thru on the 25k commitment to Sen Braynon,” Mr. Dunbar wrote. “I recommend we do it with 4 checks. One for 10k from GP and 3 checks for 5k from Palm Meadows, the Village and Orchid. Need to make delivery this week.”

State records show four Stronach Group-connected contributions to the Florida Democratic Party on June 23, 2016. One for US$10,000 from Gulfstream Park; and three for US$5,000 each from GPRA Thoroughbred Training Center, The Village at Gulfstream Park and Orchid Concessions. GPRA is a horse training facility also named Palm Meadows, Orchid runs food and beverage services at Gulfstream and the Village is the holding company for shop and restaurant properties near the racetrack.

Mr. Dunbar told The Globe that he asked for the donation to be split up because each of the companies had “different interests.”

He said Mr. Ossip wanted to direct campaign donations, and Mr. Dunbar had cautioned him over it. “Alon Ossip tried to get involved in the political contributions, and I had to continue to remind him that it was illegal,” Mr. Dunbar said. “Alon was just a bit of a control freak, and sometimes he would go outside of his boundaries.”

Mr. Ossip’s spokesman, Mr. Deegan, said Mr. Ossip did not personally authorize any contributions and had not broken the law.

While the e-mails show that Mr. Ossip was involved in conversations about the donations, Mr. Deegan maintained that Mr. Ossip was only being kept in the loop but wasn’t involved in signing off on the spending. “In terms of directing or anything like that – absolutely no, and you can quote me on that,” Mr. Deegan said.

The relevant U.S. regulations specify that foreign nationals cannot “direct, dictate, control, or directly or indirectly participate in the decision-making process” of a corporation on election campaign donations at any level of government.

Mr. Ossip took a leave of absence from the Stronach Group in January, 2017, amid an internecine fight between Frank and Belinda Stronach for control of the empire. Mr. Ossip left for good earlier this year.

State campaign finance records suggest that both the Florida Republican and Democratic parties held events at Gulfstream. The records show in-kind contributions from Gulfstream at the same time as the 2017 Pegasus World Cup to both the Republican Party of Florida and Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign, for “lodging, food and beverage” and “horse track tickets.” Another in-kind contribution is logged from Gulfstream in November, 2015, to the Florida Democratic Party.

Outside of Florida, the Stronach empire’s donations have been more modest. But the companies have still made political contributions as they grappled with public policy issues.

In Maryland, for instance, the Stronach Group closed a deal in 2019 which will see the state government plough US$375-million into renovating Pimlico and Laurel Park. In exchange, the company agreed not to move The Preakness Stakes, a prestigious Baltimore horse race and the second leg in the U.S. Triple Crown, to another track.

Stronach Group companies donated US$11,000 to Mike Miller, the president of the state senate at the time of the deal; US$6,000 to Adrienne Jones, the lower house Speaker who pushed the bill; and US$6,000 to Republican Governor Larry Hogan, who opted not to veto the bill despite expressing misgivings over new public expenditures.

In California, meanwhile, the company gave US$29,200 to Democrat Gavin Newsom’s successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign; $13,600 to Kamala Harris’s 2014 re-election as state attorney-general; and US$14,600 to her successor, Xavier Becerra.

Mr. Newsom expressed concern over a spike in horse deaths at Santa Anita in 2019. But he opted not to shut down the track after it banned drugging and whipping horses on racing days, the first track in the U.S. to impose such restrictions.

At the federal level, the Stronach Group backed the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act, legislation passed last year that creates uniform standards of horse medication across the country, overseen by an industry-run body.

Andy Barr, the Republican Kentucky congressman who spent nearly a decade pushing the legislation, received financial support from high-level Stronach executives.

In 2018, Tim Ritvo, the Stronach Group’s then-chief operating officer; his wife, Katherine Ritvo; and Robert O’Neil, then Gulfstream’s head veterinarian, made a series of donations totalling US$100,000 to Mr. Barr’s re-election campaign and to the Kentucky Republican Party.

The contributions came in identical cheques: On March 19, both Ritvos and Mr. O’Neill each gave US$15,000 to the Andy Barr Victory Committee; and two US$2,700 cheques apiece to Andy Barr for Congress. On June 22, they each gave US$9,600 to the Republican Party of Kentucky.

After an acrimonious, years-long legal battle between father and daughter, Belinda Stronach remains in control of the Stronach Group, with ownership of the family’s horse tracks, casinos and gambling software companies.Wilfredo Lee/The Canadian Press

Mr. Barr did not respond to The Globe’s questions.

There is a page in the Stronach Group’s employee manual that explicitly tells foreigners working for the company not to get involved in political contributions. American employees who try to get foreign employees involved, for their part, can be fired over it, the document says.

“U.S. federal law strictly prohibits foreign nationals from involvement in the U.S. political process,” it warns, “and from authorizing, supervising, managing or otherwise being involved in the political activities of any U.S. corporation.”


The Stronach empire is currently at a crossroads. After an acrimonious, years-long legal battle between father and daughter, the pair divided up their assets last summer.

Belinda Stronach remains in control of the Stronach Group, with ownership of the family’s horse tracks, casinos and gambling software companies. Frank Stronach has hived off the cattle ranch and horse-raising businesses.

The hazy connections between money, politics and policy interventions that their companies have evinced in the U.S. are exactly what campaign finance watchdogs fear. And such activities, they say, are very hard to detect. When a foreign-owned company makes a donation, for instance, it is difficult to determine if a foreign owner or executive participated in the decision.

“That’s generally a pretty easily-evaded standard,” said Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington-based election transparency group. “It would be almost impossible to know whether a company’s foreign owners or board members directed the contribution. These decisions are not made in public, there is no public record of them.”

The rules also contain some loopholes. For instance, the law and associated regulations do not specify whether the ban on foreign election contributions also applies to referendum campaigns. This has made it legal for foreigners to give money to campaigns for and against such plebiscites, a regular feature of state and local politics in the U.S.

Campaign finance laws are particularly lax in Florida. Donations to politicians themselves are theoretically subject to caps of US$3,000 annually per contributor. But politicians are also allowed to control PACs that can legally accept unlimited donations.

“It’s a dysfunctional system that’s been set up to allow these forms of unlimited spending,” said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Integrity Florida, a Tallahassee-based group calling for more stringent campaign finance laws. “It happens all the time … political influence by corporate interests and their ability to win favourable public policy and favourable regulatory decisions from the state government.”

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Politics Briefing: Labour leader targets Poilievre, calls him 'anti-worker politician' – The Globe and Mail

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 on


Hello,

Pierre Poilievre is a fraud when it comes to empowering workers, says the president of Canada’s largest labour organization.

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, targeted the federal Conservative Leader in a speech in Ottawa today as members of the labour movement met to develop a strategic approach to the next federal election, scheduled for October, 2025.

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“Whatever he claims today, Mr. Poilievre has a consistent 20-year record as an anti-worker politician,” said Bruske, whose congress represents more than three million workers.

She rhetorically asked whether the former federal cabinet minister has ever walked a picket line, or supported laws to strengthen workers’ voices.

“Mr. Poilievre sure is fighting hard to get himself power, but he’s never fought for worker power,” she said.

“We must do everything in our power to expose Pierre Poilievre as the fraud that he is.”

The Conservative Leader, whose party is running ahead of its rivals in public-opinion polls, has declared himself a champion of “the common people,” and been courting the working class as he works to build support.

Mr. Poilievre’s office today pushed back on the arguments against him.

Sebastian Skamski, media-operations director, said Mr. Poilievre, unlike other federal leaders, is connecting with workers.

In a statement, Skamski said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has sold out working Canadians by co-operating with the federal Liberal government, whose policies have created challenges for Canadian workers with punishing taxes and inflation.

“Pierre Poilievre is the one listening and speaking to workers on shop floors and in union halls from coast to coast to coast,” said Mr. Skamski.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Singh are scheduled to speak to the gathering today. Mr. Poilievre was not invited to speak.

Asked during a post-speech news conference about the Conservative Leader’s absence, Bruske said the gathering is focused on worker issues, and Poilievre’s record as an MP and in government shows he has voted against rights, benefits and wage increases for workers.

“We want to make inroads with politicians that will consistently stand up for workers, and consistently engage with us,” she said.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

Pierre Poilievre’s top adviser not yet contacted in Lobbying Commissioner probe: The federal Lobbying Commissioner has yet to be in touch with Jenni Byrne as the watchdog probes allegations of inappropriate lobbying by staff working both in Byrne’s firm and a second one operating out of her office.

Métis groups will trudge on toward self-government as bill faces another setback: Métis organizations in Ontario and Alberta say they’ll stay on the path toward self-government, despite the uncertain future of a contentious bill meant to do just that.

Liberals buck global trend in ‘doubling down’ on foreign aid, as sector urges G7 push: The federal government pledged in its budget this week to increase humanitarian aid by $150-million in the current fiscal year and $200-million the following year.

Former B.C. finance minister running for the federal Conservatives: Mike de Jong says he will look to represent the Conservatives in Abbotsford-South Langley, which is being created out of part of the Abbotsford riding now held by departing Tory MP Ed Fast.

Ottawa’s new EV tax credit raises hope of big new Honda investment: The proposed measure would provide companies with a 10-per-cent rebate on the costs of constructing new buildings to be used in the electric-vehicle supply chain. Story here.

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau embraces uncertainty in new memoir, Closer Together: “I’m a continuous, curious, emotional adventurer and explorer of life and relationships,” Grégoire Trudeau told The Globe and Mail during a recent interview. “I’ve always been curious and interested and fascinated by human contact.”

TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES

“Sometimes you’re in a situation. You just can’t win. You say one thing. You get one community upset. You say another. You get another community upset.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford, at a news conference in Oakville today, commenting on the Ontario legislature Speaker banning the wearing in the House of the traditional keffiyeh scarf. Ford opposes the ban, but it was upheld after the news conference in the provincial legislature.

“No, I plan to be a candidate in the next election under Prime Minister Trudeau’s leadership. I’m very happy. I’m excited about that. I’m focused on the responsibilities he gave me. It’s a big job. I’m enjoying it and I’m optimistic that our team and the Prime Minister will make the case to Canadians as to why we should be re-elected.” – Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, before Question Period today, on whether he is interested in the federal Liberal leadership, and succeeding Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

THIS AND THAT

Today in the Commons: Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, April. 18, accessible here.

Deputy Prime Minister’s Day: Private meetings in Burlington, Ont., then Chrystia Freeland toured a manufacturing facility, discussed the federal budget and took media questions. Freeland then travelled to Washington, D.C., for spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Freeland also attended a meeting of the Five Eyes Finance Ministers hosted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and held a Canada-Ukraine working dinner on mobilizing Russian assets in support of Ukraine.

Ministers on the Road: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is on the Italian island of Capri for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, in the Quebec town of Farnham, made an economic announcement, then held a brief discussion with agricultural workers and took media questions. Privy Council President Harjit Sajjan made a federal budget announcement in the Ontario city of Welland. Families Minister Jenna Sudds made an economic announcement in the Ontario city of Belleville.

Commons Committee Highlights: Treasury Board President Anita Anand appeared before the public-accounts committee on the auditor-general’s report on the ArriveCan app, and Karen Hogan, Auditor-General of Canada, later appeared on government spending. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree appears before the status-of-women committee on the Red Dress Alert. Competition Bureau Commissioner Matthew Boswell and Yves Giroux, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, appeared before the finance committee on Bill C-59. Former Prince Edward Island premier Robert Ghiz, now the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Telecommunications Association, is among the witnesses appearing before the human-resources committee on Bill C-58, An act to amend the Canada Labour Code. Caroline Maynard, Canada’s Information Commissioner, appears before the access-to-information committee on government spending. Michel Patenaude, chief inspector at the Sûreté du Québec, appeared before the public-safety committee on car thefts in Canada.

In Ottawa: Governor-General Mary Simon presented the Governor-General’s Literary Awards during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, and, in the evening, was scheduled to speak at the 2024 Indspire Awards to honour Indigenous professionals and youth.

PRIME MINISTER’S DAY

Justin Trudeau met with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at city hall. Sutcliffe later said it was the first time a sitting prime minister has visited city hall for a meeting with the mayor. Later, Trudeau delivered remarks to a Canada council meeting of the Canadian Labour Congress.

LEADERS

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a media scrum at the House of Commons ahead of Question Period.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attends a party fundraising event at a private residence in Mississauga.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended the House of Commons.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, met with Saskatchewan’s NDP Leader, Carla Beck, and, later, Ken Price, the chief of the K’ómoks First Nation,. In the afternoon, he delivered a speech to a Canadian Labour Congress Canadian council meeting.

THE DECIBEL

On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Sanjay Ruparelia, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Jarislowsky Democracy Chair, explains why India’s elections matter for democracy – and the balance of power for the rest of the world. The Decibel is here.

PUBLIC OPINION

Declining trust in federal and provincial governments: A new survey finds a growing proportion of Canadians do not trust the federal or provincial governments to make decisions on health care, climate change, the economy and immigration.

OPINION

On Haida Gwaii, an island of change for Indigenous land talks

“For more than a century, the Haida Nation has disputed the Crown’s dominion over the land, air and waters of Haida Gwaii, a lush archipelago roughly 150 kilometres off the coast of British Columbia. More than 20 years ago, the First Nation went to the Supreme Court of Canada with a lawsuit that says the islands belong to the Haida, part of a wider legal and political effort to resolve scores of land claims in the province. That case has been grinding toward a conclusion that the B.C. government was increasingly convinced would end in a Haida victory.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board.

The RCMP raid the home of ArriveCan contractor as Parliament scolds

“The last time someone was called before the bar of the House of Commons to answer MPs’ inquiries, it was to demand that a man named R.C. Miller explain how his company got government contracts to supply lights, burners and bristle brushes for lighthouses. That was 1913. On Wednesday, Kristian Firth, the managing partner of GCStrategies, one of the key contractors on the federal government’s ArriveCan app, was called to answer MPs’ queries. Inside the Commons, it felt like something from another century.” – Campbell Clark

First Nations peoples have lost confidence in Thunder Bay’s police force

“Thunder Bay has become ground zero for human-rights violations against Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Too many sudden and suspicious deaths of Indigenous Peoples have not been investigated properly. There have been too many reports on what is wrong with policing in the city – including ones by former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Murray Sinclair and former Toronto Police board chair Alok Mukherjee, and another one called “Broken Trust,” in which the Office of the Independent Police Review Director said the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) was guilty of “systemic racism” in 2018. – Tanya Talaga.

The failure of Canada’s health care system is a disgrace – and a deadly one

“What can be said about Canada’s health care system that hasn’t been said countless times over, as we watch more and more people suffer and die as they wait for baseline standards of care? Despite our delusions, we don’t have “world-class” health care, as our Prime Minister has said; we don’t even have universal health care. What we have is health care if you’re lucky, or well connected, or if you happen to have a heart attack on a day when your closest ER is merely overcapacity as usual, and not stuffed to the point of incapacitation.” – Robyn Urback.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.

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GOP strategist reacts to Trump’s ‘unconventional’ request – CNN

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GOP strategist reacts to Trump’s ‘unconventional’ request

Donald Trump’s campaign is asking Republican candidates and committees using the former president’s name and likeness to fundraise to give at least 5% of what they raise to the campaign, according to a letter obtained by CNN. CNN’s Steve Contorno and Republican strategist Rina Shah weigh in.


03:00

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Anger toward federal government at 6-year high: Nanos survey – CTV News

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Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.

Nanos has been measuring Canadians’ feelings of optimism, satisfaction, disinterest, anger, pessimism and uncertainty toward the federal government since November 2018.

The latest survey found that optimism had crept up slightly to 10 per cent since hitting an all-time low of eight per cent in September 2023.

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However, 62 per cent of Canadians said they feel either pessimistic or angry, with respondents equally split between the two sentiments.

(Nanos Research)

“What we’ve seen is the anger quotient has hit a new record,” Nik Nanos, CTV’s official pollster and Nanos Research founder, said in an interview with CTV News’ Trend Line on Wednesday.

Only 11 per cent of Canadians felt satisfied, while another 11 per cent said they were disinterested.

Past survey results show anger toward the federal government has increased or held steady across the country since March 2023, while satisfaction has gradually declined.

Will the budget move the needle?

Since the survey was conducted before the federal government released its 2024 budget, there’s a chance the anger and pessimism of March could subside a little by the time Nanos takes the public’s temperature again. They could also stick.

The five most important issues to Canadians right now that would influence votes, according to another recent Nanos survey conducted for Bloomberg, include inflation and the cost of living, health care, climate change and the environment, housing affordability and taxes.

(Nanos Research)

With this year’s budget, the federal government pledged $52.9 billion in new spending while promising to maintain the 2023-24 federal deficit at $40.1 billion. The federal deficit is projected to be $39.8 billion in 2024-25.

The budget includes plans to boost new housing stock, roll out a national disability benefit, introduce carbon rebates for small businesses and increase taxes on Canada’s top-earners.

However, advocacy groups have complained it doesn’t do enough to address climate change, or support First Nations communities and Canadians with disabilities.

“Canada is poised for another disastrous wildfire season, but this budget fails to give the climate crisis the attention it urgently deserves,” Keith Brooks, program director for Environmental Defence, wrote in a statement on the organization’s website.

Meanwhile, when it comes to a promise to close what the Assembly of First Nations says is a sprawling Indigenous infrastructure gap, the budget falls short by more than $420 billion. And while advocacy groups have praised the impending roll-out of the Canada Disability Benefit, organizations like March of Dimes Canada and Daily Bread Food Bank say the estimated maximum benefit of $200 per month per recipient won’t be enough to lift Canadians with disabilities out of poverty.

According to Nanos, if Wednesday’s budget announcement isn’t enough to restore the federal government’s favour, no amount of spending will do the trick.

“If the Liberal numbers don’t move up after this, perhaps the listening lesson for the Liberals will be (that) spending is not the political solution for them to break this trend line,” Nanos said. “It’ll have to be something else.”

Conservatives in ‘majority territory’

While the Liberal party waits to see what kind of effect its budget will have on voters, the Conservatives are enjoying a clear lead when it comes to ballot tracking.

(Nanos Research)

“Any way you cut it right now, the Conservatives are in the driver’s seat,” Nanos said. “They’re in majority territory.”

According to Nanos Research ballot tracking from the week ending April 12, the Conservatives are the top choice for 40 per cent of respondents, the Liberals for 23.7 per cent and the NDP for 20.6 per cent.

Whether the Liberals or the Conservatives form the next government will come down, partly, to whether voters believe more government spending is, or isn’t, the key to helping working Canadians, Nanos said.

“Both of the parties are fighting for working Canadians … and we have two competing visions for that. For the Liberals, it’s about putting government support into their hands and creating social programs to support Canadians,” he said.

“For the Conservatives, it’s very different. It’s about reducing the size of government (and) reducing taxes.”

Watch the full episode of Trend Line in our video player at the top of this article. You can also listen in our audio player below, or wherever you get your podcasts. The next episode comes out Wednesday, May 1.

Methodology

Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,069 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between March 31 and April 1, 2024, as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey online. The sample included both land- and cell-lines across Canada. The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

With files from The Canadian Press, CTV News Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello and CTV News Parliamentary Bureau Writer, Producer Spencer Van Dyke

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