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

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