Here’s the news we covered this week:

The Lobby Monitor spoke with Cameron Penner, Blackbird Strategies’ new senior consultant, about his decision to take his advocacy and communications skills to the company. “The biggest draw was taking those skills and applying them to a whole new sector, as a large part of Blackbird’s client base is Indigenous communities and First Nations groups,” said Penner. “This role allows me to work with clients who are directly advocating for Indigenous people and I think that's incredibly important work.”

Christina Santini, director of national affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, and Maximilien Roy, vice-president of federal and Québec affairs at Restaurants Canada, discuss the challenges their members have been facing in meeting the CEBA repayment deadline, and their groups’ advocacy efforts to secure an extension. Despite multiple extensions, business owners are struggling to repay their debt due to the state of the economy. “We've seen inflation rates go up in 2023 and 2022, we saw the Bank of Canada's central interest rates go up, and consequently, consumer demand has gone down [for goods and services],” said Santini.

Takla First Nation, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, and the International Institute of Sustainable Development were the most active lobbying groups in December. A week of lobbying led Takla First Nation to submit the highest number – 21 out of a total of 1,811 – of communication reports. The group is represented on the federal lobbyists’ registry by Austin Glover, Grace Smith, and James Grant Barley of Strategies North Advisory Inc., who registered to secure federal funding for community-led projects, according to their files.

In weekly communications reports, the Canadian Labour Congress’ (CLC) outreach to several cabinet ministers contributed to their 14 communication reports posted to the registry between Jan. 1 and Jan. 14. This is the highest number of reports submitted by a single organization during that week (a total of 336 reports were submitted overall). The organization is represented on the registry by president Bea Bruske. Although not necessarily the subject of those interactions with parliamentarians, the CLC late last year was promoting its “A future that works” campaign, which advocates for the creation of sustainable jobs.

In this week’s registrations, an American defence contractor, Polaris Government and Defense, has joined the federal lobbyists’ registry for the first time to discuss the Department of National Defence’s Light Tactical Vehicle program and the equipment needs of the Canadian Armed Forces, according to the associated registry files. The company has hired Phil Trinh and Gordon Quaiattini of Maple Leaf Strategies Inc. to represent it on the registry. Polaris is a U.S.-based company that produces various light tactical vehicles specifically for government and military procurement needs.

Another company joining the federal registry for the first time is Ekona Power to discuss the federal government’s investment tax credit for clean hydrogen. Gregory Stulen of Avenue Public Affairs is representing the company on the registry. Ekona Power, a B.C.-based company, manufactures technology to assist with decarbonizing hydrogen production in the energy and heavy industry sectors.

In new registrations, the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) has hired Samantha Thompson of Compass Rose Group. Communications will focus on CPAC’s need for interim funding to support the organization, according to the consultant’s registry file. CPAC is an independent, non-for-profit media organization which provides bilingual coverage of political events, public policy debates, parliamentary procedures, and programming.

New Registry

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Jan. 19 at 9:00 a.m. ET.

New Registration

Reactivation