Here’s the news we covered this week:

Climate Caucus’ executive director Alex Lidstone discussed the group’s advocacy goal of $3 billion in funding for municipalities to pursue climate action projects. “We understand that's a huge ask, but what they're doing right now isn't working,” said Lidstone. “Local leaders want to be able to take the lead on this work because they argue that they–the ones on the ground experiencing this–know what the community needs and in what order they need it.”

Michael Kydd, consultant and principal at Kydder Group Inc., told The Lobby Monitor about the effect that the Senate veterans affairs subcommittee’s report has had on the psychedelic research industry, which is planning future advocacy efforts. The report called on the federal government to provide funding for research studies on the use of psychedelic-based therapy for post-traumatic stress disorders. “This [report] is a true rallying cry and … a true call to action, bigger than anything we've ever seen,” said Kydd. “We have incredible medical infrastructure to conduct these clinical trials right here in Canada with Canadian veterans. We need Veterans Affairs, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Health Canada, to meet with us and put some dollars into place that can get this done.”

Michael Wernick, a former clerk of the Privy Council Office, and Lyne Robinson-Dalpé, director of advisory and compliance at the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, discussed their experience of working alongside Mary Dawson, Canada’s first conflict of interest and ethics commissioner. Dawson died following a brief illness on Dec. 24 at the age of 81. Dawson, a long-time public servant, was actually retired when she accepted the commissioner role. “She was very enthusiastic about this role,” said Robinson-Dalpé about why Dawson returned to the public service. Conflict-of-interest issues were “something that she took at heart … and she was a dedicated public servant all her life so for her to continue to contribute in this role was what drove her to accept the position.”

Perry Tsergas, president and CEO at Spark Advocacy, and Dan Lovell, a senior associate at Sussex Strategy, provided The Lobby Monitor with their insight on the purpose and benefits of industry alliances in federal lobbying. “There's trade-offs to these things, but more often there's more upsides than downsides,” said Tsergas. “If you can find alignment and back a common goal, then you can punch way above your weight than you'd ever be able to do alone.”

In this week’s registrations, Aramis Biotechnologies, the successor company to Medicago, has joined the federal lobbyists’ registry for the first time as it seeks federal funding for the development of a plant-based vaccine. The company is represented by its CEO Frederic Ors. Aramis develops vaccines and has a manufacturing facility in Quebec City. It is currently developing a seasonal flu vaccine which is in the preclinical stage.

Also joining the registry for the first time is KidSport, represented by Sara-Emilie Clark of Impact Public Affairs. KidSport is a national not-for-profit organization which provides financial assistance to families that need help covering registration and equipment fees for their children to participate in organized sports. The not-for-profit received $4,430,000 through Sport Canada’s Community Sport for All initiative, and $200,700 from Canadian Heritage.

In new registrations, Brandon Khan is joining his colleagues Felix Wong, Dan Pfeffer, and Ryan Jamula of PAA Advisory in representing Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) on the federal registry. Khan will discuss opportunities for BIC to work with the federal government to provide support for start-ups that develop clean, green and sustainable technologies. BIC is a non-profit organization which provides investment, advice and services for Canadian businesses.

New Registry

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Jan. 12 at 9:02 a.m. ET.

New Registration

Reactivation