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

The office of Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion fielded more than 1,000 requests to investigate MPs and ministers for their participation in the World Economic Forum as conspiracy theories about the organization spread earlier this year, according to an annual report published on May 30. Those requests were among the approximately 3,500 public and media inquiries sent to the office in the 2021-22 fiscal year, the report states, a 66-per-cent increase over the previous year. 

As public conversations on the importance of improving access to mental health services increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, so are the advocacy discussions taking place on Parliament Hill. Two organizations in particular, the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and the Canadian Mental Health Association have seen a jump in their year-over-year lobbying, and both groups say they’ll continue to push for meetings with policymakers. (This story was also published in Hill Times Research, a sister publication to The Lobby Monitor that exclusively covers federal health policy.)

An alliance of agricultural industry groups is hopeful of further progress after a private member’s bill proposing carbon price exemptions to some on-farm activities passed second reading in the House of Commons. On-farm exemptions from carbon pricing measures are one of  three big asks from the Agriculture Carbon Alliance (ACA), a group of 15 agricultural industry organizations founded in 2021. Members of the alliance include some of the most active agricultural organizations on the Hill. “I think [Bill C-234] sends a strong signal to farmers that parliamentarians care about the rising cost of food production, the narrow margins of farmers, and that we can have a nuanced discussion around carbon pricing,” said Dave Carey, vice-president of government relations at the Canadian Canola Growers Association and a co-chair of the ACA.

The Chicken Farmers of Canada submitted 58 of the 173 communication reports filed last week. The CFC is represented on the registry by executive director Michael Laliberte and 11 board members. Most of the CFC’s reports related to meetings between May 16 and May 18, when the organization held advocacy days in Ottawa. The organization communicated with Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, and Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay. CFC also met with agriculture critics John Barlow (Conservative) and Yves Perron (Bloc Québécois). 

In new registrations, the Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group started its first file on May 31 with its director, retired Major Donna Van Leusen Riguidel. The group is made up of trauma survivors from uniform services, including the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), who provide their perspectives, training, and support to others. According to its registry file, the group is seeking a contract to provide a workshop to uniform services focusing on sexual misconduct, survivor support, bystander empowerment, and culture change. Riguidel plans to communicate with 40 government institutions, including National Defence, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Justice, Veterans Affairs, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as with MPs.

Defeat Duchenne Canada has hired SWON Public Affairs president Kirsten Krose, who registered on May 1, to represent the organization in discussions with Finance and Health. Those discussions, according to the registry file, will centre around assessing and approving treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy “in a more timely manner.” Defeat Duchenne Canada’s website states there are an estimated 800 boys and young men currently living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Returning to the registry is Cybergun, a French manufacturer of licensed replica firearms. The company has hired consultant Mitch Heimpel of Enterprise Canada, who registered on May 30, to represent it in discussions with the PMO and Public Safety Canada, as well as with MPs and senators. Cybergun was last on the registry in September 2021. The company is interested in discussing Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms), which is the federal government’s proposal to freeze the import, sale, and transfer of handguns in Canada.

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on June 3 at 9:03 a.m. ET

New registrations

Reactivations