The Vancouver Sun reports in its Wednesday edition that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's view of lobbyists as "useless and overpaid" has not stopped him from meeting with them, according to records in Canada's lobbyist registry. Postmedia's Ryan Tumilty writes that Mr. Poilievre denounced the lobbying culture in corporate Canada in a speech in March and again in an opinion piece published in the National Post last week. He said any corporation looking to make legislative change should convince Canadians of the merit of the idea rather than reaching out directly to MPs and senators. "If you do have a policy proposal, don't tell me about it. Convince Canadians that it's good for them. Communicate your policy's benefits directly to workers, consumers and retirees. When they start telling me about your ideas on the doorstep in Windsor, St. John's, Trois-Rivières and Port Alberni, then I'll think about enacting it," he said. A search of the lobbyist registry shows Mr. Poilievre has met with lobbyists 26 times in the past 12 months. Meetings have included companies advancing resource projects, like Rio Tinto and Woodfibre Management, a firm proposing an LNG export facility near Squamish, B.C., Imperial Oil and Cenovus.
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