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

From holding the title of Ontario cabinet minister to the world of government relations, Brad Duguid, is now offering lobbying services under the banner of Brad Duguid Consulting. Duguid, who served in the Liberal governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne, retired from politics in 2018. He has stayed busy since then in an advisory role with CFFI Ventures, and is also taking on clients under his independent company. Duguid said his services encompass government relations, corporate mentoring, Indigenous relations, and helping clients “navigate the innovation ecosystem.”

Former U.S. ambassador David MacNaughton was cleared of breaching the Lobbying Act in a report released by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying (OCL) on March 23. MacNaughton, currently the president of software company Palantir Canada, was investigated by the OCL following a complaint the office received last May related to his communications with the federal government since entering the private sector. MacNaughton engaged in 49 communications with 22 federal officials between January and May 2020, most of which included pro bono offers to provide access to Palantir products and services for the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The OCL report’s conclusion is that the communications were too short to constitute a significant part of MacNaughton’s duties with Palantir.

Diabetes Canada led in lobbying last week with 50 filed communication reports, of which 42 related to the organization’s annual lobbying event held in early February. The event included communication with Minister of Employment Carla Qualtrough on Feb. 3, and with Liberal MP Darren Fisher, who was parliamentary secretary to the health minister at the time, on Feb. 2. The BC Dairy Association filed 48 communication reports last week. The majority of those reports were related to a national policy conference for the dairy sector held Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, which was hosted by the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

The House ethics committee met on March 22 to discuss its next steps in its probe of possible conflicts of interest related to WE Charity. Some members of the committee, including NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus and Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett, said they were interested in calling on Ben Chin, a senior adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), to testify. Liberal members of the committee argued a letter to Chin would be sufficient. The meeting ended without a decision being reached.

In new registrations, LifeLabs LP started its first file on March 18 with consultant Graham Fox of Navigator. The company would like to discuss the deployment of rapid COVID-19 tests with the federal government, according to the registry. LifeLabs partnered with biotechnology company Multiplex Genomics with the goal of growing capacity for COVID-19 testing to 50,000 tests per day by mid-2021. Fox will communicate with Health, Transport, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, and with MPs.

Resilience Biotechnologies started its first file on Feb. 24 with its chief operating officer, Safa'a Al-Rais providing in-house representation. The file was posted on the registry on March 23. The company is interested in discussing the possibility of funding from the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund in order to construct facilities with vaccine and biomanufacturing capabilities, the registry shows. Al-Rais will communicate with the PMO, Public Health Agency of Canada, Innovation, Infrastructure, Health, Finance, and with MPs.

Media company ViacomCBS started its first file on March 19 with consultant Sean Casey of Global Public Affairs. Casey’s colleague, Curtis O’Nyon was added on March 22. The company is reaching out to the federal government to discuss COVID-19 protocols on the sets for television productions, as well as travel provisions related to quarantine requirements, according to the file. Casey and O’Nyon will communicate with the PMO, Public Safety Canada, Immigration, Health, Global Affairs Canada and with MPs.

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on March 26 at 10:00 a.m. ET
 

New registrations

Reactivations