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

Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger has agreed to wait for possible comments and recommendations from members of the House ethics committee about her proposed changes to the lobbyists’ code of conduct before moving to bring the updates into force. Bélanger told the committee (also known as ETHI) during a meeting on Feb. 3 that her preference is for the new code to be in place before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, or the start of the new fiscal year on April 1. “But I will not proceed on this until I get your sense that you do not have recommendations to make,” she said. “If you do have recommendations to make, I would really ask you that we do this as soon as possible.” Members of the committee asked Bélanger about several aspects of the proposed code, including its rules regarding hospitality, gifts, and political work.

The Breakfast Club of Canada ratcheted up its lobbying efforts in 2022, submitting more than eight times the number of communication reports compared to the previous year as it sought action on a promised pan-Canadian school food policy. The organization posted 233 communication reports last year, making it the second most-active organization on the registry in 2022. The Lobby Monitor spoke with the Breakfast Club of Canada’s Judith Barry in the second article in our two-part series on the most-active organizations on the registry last year. (You can read the first part, with the Canadian Canola Growers Association, here.)

New West Public Affairs has turned its focus eastward, launching a new practice that will focus on Ontario and federal government relations. Saeed Selvam has been hired as the managing director of the Alberta-based firm’s federal and Ontario practice. He brings his experience from Google, Laidlaw Foundation, and community organizing in Toronto to the new role. “When I signed on, I knew that a lot of our work going forward was to continue to build on the great work that has been done in Calgary and bring that style, flavour, and track record to the east,” he said.

Canadian Women & Sport submitted 24 of the 98 communication reports posted to the federal lobbyists’ registry last week. The advocacy group, which works with sport organizations and governments to improve gender equity in sport, is represented on the registry by CEO Allison Sandmeyer-Graves. The organization communicated with Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge and her policy and regional adviser, Lauren Hadaller, on Oct. 24. St-Onge announced $25.3 million over three years for gender equity in sport on that day, after a roundtable discussion with stakeholders interested in discussing inclusion in sport.

In new registrations, Doornekamp Construction Ltd. has hired five Rubicon Strategy consultants to speak with officials from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Transport Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, and Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. Tim Smitheman, Aaron Gairdner, Andrew Balfour, Jonathan Moser, and Braedan de Bakker registered between Jan. 13 and Feb. 1. The consultants’ registry files state that they’re seeking to secure grants and contributions to support terminal expansion projects for the company’s Picton Terminals (in Prince Edward, Ont.), conduct outreach on strengthening Canadian supply chains, and highlighting Picton Terminals’ “strategic role” in alleviating supply-chain bottlenecks.

Also new to the registry is Dynamit Nobel Defence GmbH, which has hired Andrew Lutes, managing director of Twenty20 Insight Inc. Lutes registered on Feb. 1 (backdated to Jan. 30) to discuss the federal government possibly adopting the company’s defence technology to help fulfill requirements included in the Department of National Defence’s “Strong, Secure, Engaged” policy statement. Lutes will connect with National Defence for these conversations.

In reactivations, Compass Rose Group’s Julia Mills made official her intent to represent Horizant again, re-registering on Jan. 19. Horizant wants to “support the Government of Canada's digital solution requirements” as public service employees return to the office, according to Mills’s registry file. There are more than 40 targeted departments and agencies, including the PMO, PCO, Public Services and Procurement, and MPs and senators. 

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Feb. 2, at 8:35 a.m. ET.

New registrations

Reactivations