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

The Supreme Court of Canada released a decision to not allow Democracy Watch to appeal a Federal Court of Appeal ruling, relating to its challenge of the appointments of Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion. Duff Conacher, the co-founder of Democracy Watch, has argued that the two federal watchdogs were selected for their roles without sufficient consultation with the leaders of other federal parties. The Federal Court ruled against Democracy Watch in a court case in 2018. Conacher appealed the decision without success in the Federal Court of Appeal in 2020. The matter was then taken to the Supreme Court of Canada in March 2020, which dismissed Democracy Watch’s application for leave to appeal.

The possible implementation of a remote-voting app to allow MPs to participate in Parliamentary proceedings from their home ridings may result in parliamentarians having more time for stakeholder engagement because of reduced travel time, according to some lobbyists. The Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) committee tabled a report on July 21 which said a new procedure for voting should be tested and ready for when Parliament returns on Sept. 21. Paul Wilson, an associate professor of political management at Carleton University in Ottawa, said in an emailed statement to The Lobby Monitor that the introduction of electronic voting could mean that newly elected MPs in particular may wish to spend more time in their ridings, in order to better establish themselves.

Jesse Shea, a former executive assistant to Ontario Liberal MP and former Hamilton mayor Bob Bratina, has joined Enterprise Canada as a public affairs consultant. Shea, a native of Hamilton, assisted Bratina, who was co-chair of the federal all-party steel caucus during the previous Parliament. Hamilton is also known as “Steeltown” because of the active steel industry there. Infrastructure and industry spending, such as for the steel sector, will likely play an important role in economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Shea.

The United Steelworkers showed the greatest amount of activity in terms of communication reports posted last week. The organization posted 21 communication reports between July 20 and July 26, including a report listing contact with Minister of Employment Carla Qualtrough on June 23. Forestry was the sole subject listed for discussion in all of the reports. The United Steelworkers represents approximately 14,000 workers in the forestry sector.

In new registrations, Leonovus, a software company based in Ottawa, started its first file on July 17 with consultant Susan Smith of Bluesky Strategy Group. The company is interested in discussing software for data collection it has developed, which it argues could be useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company proposes that the software could be distributed to locations such as hospitals, nursing homes and research labs, so it could consolidate data related to the pandemic in order to better inform the public health response. Smith will communicate with Innovation, National Defence, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and with MPs.

Rapid Virus Detect, a company based in British Columbia, started its first file on July 27 with consultant Bilal Cheema.  The company would like to discuss an application to Health Canada for authorization of a COVID-19 testing kit, the registry shows. Health has authorized applications for 28 COVID-19 testing devices as of July 31. Cheema will communicate with Health, Innovation, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Alcon Media Group, a film production company in the U.S., started its first file on July 24 with consultant Sean Casey of Global Public Affairs. The company is interested in discussing federal government policies as they relate to COVID-19 protection measures on Canadian film and television sets, the registry shows. Casey will communicate with the Prime Minister’s Office, Health, Immigration, Canadian Heritage, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and with MPs.
 

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on July 31 at 9:00 a.m.

New registrations

Reactivations