Here’s a look back at the news we covered this week:

Democracy Watch heads to the Federal Court of Appeal on Jan. 28 to argue that the Liberals appointed the current lobbying commissioner and ethics commissioner without sufficient consultation with opposition parties. The non-profit group wants to see Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion removed from their posts.

Duff Conacher, the co-founder of Democracy Watch, originally challenged the two appointments in Federal Court in November 2018. The court ruled against Democracy Watch in December 2018 when it found that opposition parties had been consulted during the process for both appointments. Conacher is now appealing that ruling.

Pierre Tremblay has joined Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ Quebec office as the vice-president of public and government affairs. Tremblay brings to the firm his insights into the Quebec government after most recently serving as chief of staff to François Bonnardel, a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec and the province’s minister of Transport. 

Priorities for Quebec’s governing party include the economy, education, and advocating for ways to reduce bureaucratic red tape to make it easier for provinces to access federal funding for transit projects, according to Tremblay.

Counsel Public Affairs has added Bridget Howe to its Ottawa office as a senior consultant of federal advocacy. Howe most recently served as a special assistant for strategic research at the Liberal caucus’ research bureau.

Howe steps into a role that was left vacant by former senior consultant Evan Wiseman, who departed the firm in December.

Howe also previously served as parliamentary assistant to Deputy Government Leader Kirsty Duncan between 2017 and 2018, when Duncan was minister of Science and Sport.

Telecommunications was the most common subject listed for discussion in communication reports targeting Innovation, posted between Jan. 13 and Jan. 19 on the federal lobbyists’ registry.

Innovation was the most targeted government institution in that time frame, listed in 64 communication reports. Out of those reports, telecommunications was the most popular subject, appearing in 17 reports.

The most active lobbying on the telecommunications file was the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), which filed four communication reports. CWTA is active on the registry with its president and CEO Robert Ghiz.

In new registrations, an advocacy group for Canada’s junior mining industry, known as Save Canadian Mining, started its first file on the registry on Jan. 15. The organization has engaged consultant Henry Boyd of Stosic and Associates to speak to the government about a rule governing stock trading.

Save Canadian Mining was launched in November 2019 by Terry Lynch, the CEO of Chilean Metals. In a press release accompanying the launch, Lynch argues that the junior mining industry is struggling under the current stock trading rules. The “tick test,” a trading rule intended to control rapid price declines in trading, was repealed in 2012 by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. Lynch would like to see the tick test reinstated.

Boyd will communicate with officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Natural Resources, Innovation, and Finance, as well as senators.

Also making its first appearance on the registry is the Vimy Foundation, a charity that raises awareness about Canada’s role in the First World War. The foundation started a file on Jan. 14 with its executive director Caitlin Bailey. The charity is interested in discussing the 2020 federal budget, and the possibility of funding for international and private commemorative sites, the registry shows.

Bailey will communicate with Veterans Affairs and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Telecommunications equipment supplier Rock Networks started its first file on Dec. 11. The Ottawa-based company has engaged consultant Michael Groh of StoneField Valley Consulting to introduce its products and services to MPs.

The company recently topped the Ottawa Business Journal’s list of Ottawa’s fastest growing companies in 2019.
 

New registry files posted between 2020-01-20 and 2020-01-24

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Jan. 24 at 8:45 a.m.
 

New registry files posted between 2020-01-20 and 2020-01-24
 

Reactivations posted between 2020-01-20 and 2020-01-24