Reality check: What did Poilievre promise private health care billionaires last night?

TORONTO—Pierre Poilievre was lavished with donations at a posh fundraiser Monday night, hosted by billionaires who make their money from private cash-for-care hospitals in the United States—and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants to know what he promised them.

“Last week, Pierre Poilievre attended yet another gilded fundraiser in his honour at the mansion of yet another billionaire. Then he promised to lower taxes for people making $1.4 million a year in capital gains,” said Singh.

“Monday night he was at the mansion of people who make their fortune in cash-for-care privatized surgeries. Canadian need to know: what the hell did Pierre Poilievre promise them?”

Monday’s private fundraiser was hosted by Sharon Stern and Aaron Stern at their 26,000-square-foot Westmount mansion—so large it has its own postal code. Stern owns Converium Capital, which is the majority owner of Medical Facilities Corporation (MFC)—which owns four American private for-profit hospitals in the United States.

On top of bragging that it “capitalizes on the attractive industry fundamentals for alternative surgical facilities,” MFC boasts that it has “a history of consistent profitability and competitive dividends.” In September 2022, MFC announced its hospitals will “focus on returning capital to shareholders.”