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

The new leaders of the Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC) plan to expand the industry association to new parts of the country as they look for new ways to engage members. Taleesha Thorogood was elected president of PAAC at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Feb. 24. She ran on a leadership ticket with Andrea Chrysanthou, director of communications and public affairs at National Public Relations, who was elected vice-president. Thorogood said that PAAC’s membership has grown during the past two years, and that she has proposed to members that the growth continue by targeting new markets, beyond its three chapters in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.

Members of a committee reviewing conflict of interest rules for MPs have raised concerns about the ethics commissioner’s interpretation of intern services paid for by third parties as “gifts” under the current code of conduct. The subject has been raised during all three of the procedure and House affairs committee’s (PROC) public meetings concerning the review of the code, with MPs questioning the effect that Commissioner Mario Dion’s interpretation will have on youth access to the political process. “Categorizing interns as gifts takes away from their learning experience and their valuable contributions in parliamentary offices,” said Brad Vis, a Conservative MP and member of PROC, in an email to The Lobby Monitor

Former Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) president and CEO Neil Parmenter has joined Global Public Affairs as a senior counsel. He will assist the firm’s crisis, risk, and issues management team, focusing on technology and digital transformation. “We're undergoing a pretty significant digital transformation in the Canadian economy,” Parmenter told The Lobby Monitor. “There's going to be an enormous amount of change in payments in particular and data rights, and these are going to be the battles that Canadian companies are going to be waging in the years ahead.”

SaskMilk, also known on the registry as the Saskatchewan Milk Marketing Board, filed 38 of the 162 communication reports submitted last week. The organization advocates on behalf of the province’s 165 dairy farms and is represented on the registry by board members Gordon Ell, Matthew Flaman, Albert Leyenhorst, Jessica Lovich, Tom Mackenzie, Blaine McLeod, Jacob Mitchell, and Leonard Wipf. SaskMilk communicated between Feb. 1 and Feb. 3 with Conservative MPs representing Saskatchewan ridings, including Randy Hoback (the party’s international trade critic), Gary Vidal (the party’s Crown-Indigenous relations critic), Jeremy Patzer, Kelly Block, Fraser Tolmie, and Robert Kitchen.

In new registrations, the Laurentian University Students’ General Association (SGA) has hired consultant Lily Mesh of Wellington Dupont, who registered on Feb. 21, to represent the organization in discussions with Immigration and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario. The association’s registry file states it is “looking to connect and work with the government to discuss the future of these students” after Laurentian University declared insolvency and applied for creditor protection on Feb. 1, 2021.

Also new to the registry is the Americas Policy Group (APG), which started its first file on Dec. 25, 2021, with co-ordinator Catherine Joubert. The Ottawa-based network of humanitarian organizations, labour unions, and faith-based groups advocate for human rights protections and environmental and social justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to its French-language registry file, APG is interested in discussing proposals and recommendations with Global Affairs Canada related to the country’s international development and foreign policy objectives in Latin America. 

Returning to the registry after two years is the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA), which added consultants Lucas Borchenko, Scott Munnoch, and Ryan Singh of Temple Scott Associates on March 2. The industry association of approximately 40,000 franchise business owners was last represented on the registry by president and CEO Sherry McNeil between Nov. 26, 2018, and Feb. 16, 2020. According to its registry file, the consultants will arrange meetings on the CFA’s behalf to discuss minimum wage, the Canada Small Business Finance program, and environmental issues. Borchenko, Munnoch, and Singh plan to communicate with the PMO, Finance, Environment, Employment, Innovation, and the Treasury Board, as well as with MPs and senators.

And The Lobby Monitor has learned that John Duffy, co-founder of StrategyCorp and longtime Liberal strategist, has died. He was 58. “John’s mind was a whirlwind of public policy passion. He was dedicated to progressive causes,” said StrategyCorp in a statement on March 3. “He was a committed ‘city-builder,’ proud of his influential work on public transit and transit-oriented communities. His quirky grad-school wit was a big part of his style, and as one friend said, ‘he could charm the birds out of the trees.’ He helped build StrategyCorp into the 80[-plus] person team it is now, and helped shape the modern practice of government relations in Canada. We mourn the loss of our friend, and offer our deepest condolences to his family, who were the joy of his life.” 

Friends and colleagues have taken to Twitter to pay tribute, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen, Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca, and Toronto mayor John Tory. 

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on March 4 at 9:21 a.m. ET

New registrations

Reactivations