On The Lobby Monitor’s radar this week…

It felt almost like “old times” (before the pandemic) on Parliament Hill on Mon. Nov. 22 as almost all 338 MPs showed up in person to open the 44th Parliament. However, a packed House of Commons is likely to be short-lived as the Liberals were successful (thanks to the NDP’s support) in passing a motion on Nov. 25 that will see the return of the hybrid Parliament model. 

Lobbyists are also carefully balancing the need for in-person meetings with the comfort levels of participants as the pandemic continues for a second year. StrategyCorp’s vice-president Garry Keller said there are opportunities for in-person engagement, but “everybody’s comfort level is very different, and that will be a bit of a learning curve going forward, even if we do go back to some sort of ‘back to normal.’ Not everybody’s going to be raring to get back into an office and working in close quarters. We all have to respect one another’s boundaries.” 

The day after the return of Parliament was the Liberal government’s throne speech on Nov. 23. As was expected, the speech heavily emphasized the governing party’s focus on fighting climate change. Consultants discussing the environment and who want wins for their clients will have to match their arguments with the government’s perspective, according to Ben Parsons, account director of federal advocacy at Counsel Public Affairs. “If you're an organization looking to convince the government to move in a completely opposite policy direction, like getting rid of the carbon tax, you're not going to be successful,” he said. 

From Crestview Strategy to State Strategy … former Crestview consultant Jaskaran Sandhu leaped into independent lobbying with the launch of his new business. “I think over the course of COVID and being able to kind of reflect and think about where I want to go, it became more clear to me that what I am at heart is an activist,” Sandhu said in an interview with The Lobby Monitor. He said working on his own provides him with greater flexibility to work on the causes he cares deeply about and to spend more time with his children. 

In our weekly roundup of communications reports, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada submitted the highest number of reports (15) of the 736 total reports posted between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21. The organization focused their outreach on Finance Canada, with one communication with Bud Sambasivam, senior policy adviser to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, on Oct. 28; and 11 other communications with Soren Halverson, an associate assistant deputy minister at the department, between Oct. 1 and Oct. 28

Joining the registry for the first time are Montreal’s ICI Télévision and Metabolic Insights of Kelowna, B.C. 

ICI hired Compass Rose Group’s Jacqueline LaRocque to discuss the federal government’s pre-election plans to amend the Broadcasting Act. She’ll be having those conversations with officials from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Canadian Heritage, Finance, and Global Affairs, in addition to MPs and senators. 

Metabolic Insights is a diagnostic testing company that hired freelance lobbyist Curtis Braun to reach out to the National Research Council to discuss funding for the development of salivary insulin testing. The company received funding from the NRC, announced in August 2020, to adapt one of their existing devices so that it could detect the presence of the viral protein of SARS-CoV-2 in a small sample of saliva. 

Hill and Knowlton’s Kevin Bosch has taken on two new clients, with one of them registered under his new venture Sandstone Group where he is co-founder and managing partner. 

Through Sandstone, Bosch will represent the City of Brampton in discussions about funding for a future light-rail transit line that will run through the city, and funding requests for other transit and infrastructure projects. Targets for these conversations include the PMO, PCO, Transport Canada, Innovation and Infrastructure Canada. 

Bosch is staying on at H+K as an associate. Through H+K, he is registered to represent Imperial Oil Limited, with the purpose of briefing the government on issues related to policy and programs. He plans to reach out to officials in the Privy Council Office (PCO), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Finance Canada and Innovation. He’ll also connect with MPs on the matter.

New registry files

New registrations

Reactivations

This is based on registrations submitted to the federal lobbyists' registry as of Nov. 26, 8:30 a.m.