Here’s the news we covered this week:

Lobbying activity related to building the economy and the green technology sector will likely find traction in 2023 as the parties look ahead to a possible federal election before 2025, according to lobbyists. “I honestly think a lot of what will define 2023 is what will or will not be in the budget. I think Canadians are facing hard economic times. I think that’s going to be front and centre,” said Daniel Perry, a Summa Strategies consultant and conservative commentator.

With more than 700 submissions made to the House finance committee and only 32 witnesses called to testify, organizations are waiting to hear whether their requests will be granted when Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveils the budget next week. The low witness count, as compared to previous years, continues a downward trend seen during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keith Currie, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s (CFA) new president, brings more than two decades of agriculture-related advocacy to the role. In order for the federation to be an effective advocacy body, Currie said it is important to advance agricultural interests while understanding the priorities of sitting governments. “I use the example all the time when dealing with people in politics that, at the end of the day, we both want to go through the same door,” Currie said. “We might want to take different roads, but we still want the same goal, so why don't we have that conversation about how we get there together?” 

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) submitted 133 of the 2,523 communication reports posted to the federal lobbyists’ registry last week. Represented on the registry by president Bea Bruske, all but one of the CLC’s communications took place on Feb. 7, when the organization held a lobby day in Ottawa. Delegates communicated with Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, Public Services Minister Helena Jaczek, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair.

In new registrations, Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. started its first file on March 10 with StrategyCorp consultants Alex Bernst, Nasha Brownridge, Garry Keller, and Lisa Samson. The Calgary, Alta.-based company plans to build a processing facility that will convert vegetable oil, animal fat, used cooking oil, and non-edible food crops into aviation fuel. Azure wants to discuss federal financial support for the project, according to its registry file. Bernst, Brownridge, Keller, and Samson plan to communicate with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Finance, Innovation, Environment, Natural Resources, and Transport, as well as with MPs.

General Electric’s (GE) power generation subsidiary is also new to the registry. GEPR Energy Canada started its first file on March 23, backdated to Feb. 17, with Heather Chalmers, president and CEO of GE Canada. Chalmers plans to communicate with 36 government institutions, including the PMO, Finance, Natural Resources, National Defence, Innovation, Environment, and all regional economic development agencies, as well as with MPs and senators. Those discussions will include topics such as carbon capture, clean electricity regulations, oil and gas sector emission caps, and international trade policies, according to its registry file.

Boosting its representation on the registry is Equal Voice, which has hired Impact Public Affairs consultant Laura Rinaldi to represent it in discussions with Women and Gender Equality, MPs, and senators.  Rinaldi registered on Feb. 28, and joins Impact colleague Leonardo Torosian, who has represented the advocacy group since Oct. 26, 2022. Equal Voice has also been represented by its executive director, Chi Nguyen, since Jan. 5, 2023. Equal Voice promotes the election of more women and gender-diverse candidates to public office at all levels of government in Canada. According to its registry file, Rinaldi will arrange meetings with MPs and senators to educate and create awareness about women’s issues, particularly women’s participation in politics.

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on March 24 at 9:07 a.m. ET.

New registrations

Reactivations