Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch
Lauren McDonald
Vice President of Strategy at Creative Currency, the advertising firm that produced Ontario government campaigns including the Reagan anti-tariff commercial. McDonald previously served as Director of Marketing in the Office of the Premier of Ontario and managed Ontario PC party advertising during the 2018 provincial election campaign. Her move from the Premier's office to a firm receiving government advertising contracts illustrates the revolving-door relationship flagged by the Auditor General.
Connected Scandals
The Ford government has spent $452 million in taxpayer-funded advertising since 2018 — repeatedly refusing to disclose campaign costs until forced by FOI — while the Auditor General found 38% of spending was designed to promote the governing party, and the firm behind the most controversial ad is run by Doug Ford's campaign manager's brother-in-law.
McDonald moved directly from serving as Director of Marketing in the Office of the Premier of Ontario to VP Strategy at Creative Currency — the firm that subsequently received millions in government advertising contracts. She had previously managed PC party advertising in the 2018 election, concentrating government advertising decisions within a tightly connected political network.