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

Stakeholders may be concerned about whether their policy issues are still a priority for the federal government if those issues were not repeated in the supplementary ministerial mandate letters released on Jan. 15, according to some lobbyists. Matthew Conway, a senior consultant at the Capital Hill Group, told The Lobby Monitor that some policy priorities from the previous letters released on Dec. 13, 2019 were reiterated in the supplementary letters, while others were not. The new letters do include the statement that they do not replace any previous commitments. Despite this, Conway said it would be “human nature” for stakeholders to feel inclined to seek reassurance about their issues if those issues were not specifically repeated in the Jan. 15 letters.

Andrea Faubert, a former director of policy for Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture Ernie Hardeman, has joined Coretva Agriscience as its government and industry affairs leader in Canada. Faubert is also a former performance management consultant with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. One advocacy priority for Faubert will be to communicate to the federal government the importance of the agriculture sector as Canada shifts toward a greener economy, she told The Lobby Monitor.

December 2020 reached the highest level of communication reports filed on the federal lobbyists’ registry since 2008, according to an analysis by The Lobby Monitor. A total of 1,838 communication reports were posted on the registry in December. This exceeds the previous highest total on record for a December, which was 1,272 communication reports filed in December 2017. December also marked the eighth consecutive month that the subject of economic development was the most frequent topic of conversation in federal lobbying.

The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) was the most active organization on the federal lobbyists’ registry last week, with 30 posted communication reports, mostly for communications that occurred in November. The GGC communicated with 21 MPs in November, including Conservative MPs Lianne Rood (the party’s agriculture critic) on Nov. 17, and Tracy Gray (the party’s international trade critic) on Nov. 26. November was a busy month for agriculture-sector lobbying, as organizations were reaching out to the federal government in advance of a major conference of federal, provincial and territorial agricultural ministers that took place on Nov. 27.

The Lobby Monitor compiled a list of staff members in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Minister’s office for the first entries in a series covering ministerial staff. The Power Resumes includes information about the professional backgrounds of current staffers in ministers’ offices.

In new registrations, media technology company AiZtech Canada started its first file on Jan. 18 with consultant Hussain Shorish of Bluesky Strategy Group. The company is interested in discussing the possibility of federal funding for research and development of a “artificial intelligence powered” rapid COVID-19 test, according to the registry file. Shorish will communicate with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Public Safety Canada, Health, Innovation, Transport, National Defence, and MPs.

Userful Corporation, a display management company based in Alberta, started its first file on Jan. 12 with consultant Reagh Burgess of BDLS International Group. The organization is interested in discussing possible federal government contracts of up to $5 million video walls, according to the registry. Burgess will communicate with Innovation, Health, Global Affairs Canada, Environment, Transport, and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Motion picture and film company NZK Productions is new on the registry with a file created Jan. 14 with consultant Sean Casey of Global Public Affairs. The organization is reaching out to the federal government to discuss COVID-19 protocols related to travel, and quarantine requirements, for television production sets in Canada, the registry shows. Casey will communicate with the PMO, Public Health Agency of Canada, Immigration, Health, Global Affairs Canada, Canadian Heritage, and with MPs.
 

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Jan. 22 at 9:00 a.m. ET

New registrations

Reactivations