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

The National Council of Canadian Muslims is expected to continue its record year for lobbying with a fall push for the passage of a private member’s bill. Liberal MP Salma Zahid announced on June 6 that she plans to table a private member’s bill in the fall that will enshrine a “duty of candour” for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Justice Canada in law. “We have been pushing for some kind of accountability since 2020, very publicly and in a more formal way,” said Rizwan Mohammad, advocacy officer at the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), in an interview with The Lobby Monitor.

After 22 years of educating health care providers on proper palliative care delivery, Pallium Canada has registered to lobby for the first time. According to CEO Jeffrey Moat, the decision to join the registry stemmed from a desire to see increased government funding for palliative care services, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on the delivery of this care. “Frankly, we feel a change is now long overdue, and continued lack of investment in palliative care will be a lost opportunity to achieve better efficiencies [and] improved outcomes,” he said. (This story was also published in Hill Times Research, a sister publication to The Lobby Monitor that exclusively covers federal health policy.)

Impact Public Affairs has recruited former Nova Scotia minister Labi Kousoulis to its team. Impact tweeted on Aug. 29 that Kousoulis, whose political portfolios included finance and labour, had joined the firm as a strategic adviser. His company bio states that his achievements in government included “consolidating health care procurement for Nova Scotia, passing a budget during COVID-19 and the economic supports for people and businesses, and implementing a loan forgiveness program for post-secondary students. Elsewhere, longtime Conservative staffer Laura Kurkimaki has joined Earnscliffe Strategies’s Ottawa office as a principal. Earnscliffe announced that Kurkimaki had joined the firm in a tweet on Aug. 23. According to her company bio, she will support clients in industries including cannabis, financial services, agriculture, energy, environment, and health.

Nukik Corporation filed 13 of the 83 communication reports submitted to the federal lobbyists’ registry last week. The corporation is represented on the registry by Sussex Strategy Group consultants Dan Lovell and Ingrid Ravary-Konopka. Nukik is building the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link, a 1,200-kilometre joint electricity and fibre optic project that will connect Nunavut’s Kivalliq region with Manitoba’s electrical grid. The corporation communicated with Yvonne Jones, parliamentary secretary to Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, on Aug. 25; Liberal MP Jim Carr on Aug. 22; Jeff Valois, Vandal’s chief of staff, on Aug. 23; Eamonn McGuinty, senior policy adviser to Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, on Aug. 25; and Morgan Breitkreutz, director of operations to Associate Minister of Finance Randy Boissonnault.

In new registrations, World Energy GH2 has hired PAA Advisory consultant Dan Pfeffer to represent it in discussions with 10 government institutions, including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Finance, Natural Resources, Innovation, and Environment. The St. John’s-based company is building Project Nujio’qonik, a hydrogen and ammonia facility powered by wind farms near Stephenville, N.L. According to its file, World Energy GH2 wants to speak with government officials to ensure that “programs for clean fuel projects enable Canada to be a competitive jurisdiction for investment.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the site of the project on Aug. 23, and signed a “joint declaration of intent” to invest in hydrogen and establish hydrogen exports from Canada to Germany by 2025.

The British Columbia Dental Association (BCDA) started its first file on Aug. 4 with executive director Jocelyn Johnston. The BCDA’s registry file states that the association will advocate to ensure that the proposed national dental care program provides comprehensive care “for B.C.’s most vulnerable people.” Johnston plans to communicate with the PMO, Health, Global Affairs, Employment, and Natural Resources, as well as with MPs.

Boosting its representation on the Hill is Diabetes Canada, which added consultants Andre Albinati and Melissa Bruno of Earnscliffe Strategies on Aug. 8. They were joined by colleague Abigail Tait on Aug. 15. The Earnscliffe consultants join Diabetes Canada president and CEO Laura Syron, who has represented the organization on the registry since June 29, 2020. According to its registry file, the consultants will help Diabetes Canada advocate for increased federal funding for diabetes research and the Diabetes National Strategy. Albinati, Bruno, and Tait plan to communicate with 17 government institutions, including the PMO, Finance, Health, Heritage, and Innovation, as well as with MPs and senators.

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Sept. 2 at 9:01 a.m. ET

New registrations

Reactivations

The Lobby Monitor will not publish on Mon. Sept. 5, due to the Labour Day public holiday, but will return to its regular publishing schedule on Tues. Sept. 6. Have a happy and safe long weekend!