Here’s the news we covered this week:

The Lobby Monitor interviewed Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada about the Online News Act, which he said is necessary to address the “power imbalance” between publishers and tech companies, and ensures a fair deal for all publications. However, tech companies such as Meta, which has blocked Canadians from seeing news content on its platforms, are strongly opposed to the legislation.

The Lobby Monitor conducted a review of lobbying data from the federal lobbyists’ registry, spanning the time between Sept. 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, and identified the 50 most active consultants and in-house organizations. Sussex Strategy Group’s Dan Lovell submitted the highest number of communication reports among third-party consultants, while Breakfast Club of Canada (BCC) proved itself to be the most active lobbying organization.

Speaking of the BCC, an email campaign targeting Quebec MPs led the organization to submit the highest number of communication reports – 46 – during the week of Aug. 14. “The email campaign was a joint initiative from the Collectif Québécois of the Coalition for Healthy School Food and BCC,” said Hermanie Desrosiers, corporate communications advisor at the organization. “The objective was to ask for MP support for a first investment towards a National School Food Program.”

In this week’s registrations, Anishinabek Nation is joining the federal lobbyists’ registry for the first time to request federal funding for a treatment center. The CCS Group consultant Ron Gersh will represent the organization. His file was posted on Aug. 22, and backdated to Aug. 21. Gersh will seek communications with Indigenous Services Canada.

Also joining for the first time is Labstat International Inc., a company that tests nicotine and cannabis products and offers consulting services for those industries. The company is represented by consultant Ivan Ross Vrana of Diplomat Consulting Inc. His registry file was submitted on Aug. 23. Vrana will seek communications with Health, Public Safety, and MPs.

In new registrations, Pembina Pipeline Corporation has hired Bluesky Strategy Group consultants Geoff Turner and Tim Barber to represent it on the registry. Both consultants’ files were posted on Aug. 23, with Turner’s file backdated to Aug. 21. Turner and Barber will seek communications with the Prime Minister's Office, Finance, Environment, Natural Resources, Innovation, Indigenous Services, and others.

New Registry

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on August 25 at 8:48 a.m. ET.

New Registration

Reactivation