Here’s the news we covered this week:

The Lobby Monitor spoke with Conservative MP Dan Albas and the Canadian Cancer Society’s Rose D'Souza about the creation of Canada’s first all-party cancer caucus. The caucus, co-chaired by Albas and Liberal MP Peter Schiefke, was announced in a joint letter on June 14. “We want to make sure that Health Canada has the right regulatory touch so that we see more clinical trials happening in Canada, … [and so] we can bring in these innovations that can save lives, and [not] get hung up in red tape,” said Albas.

Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger appeared before the House ethics committee on June 20. During the meeting about former Liberal innovation minister Navdeep Bains’s new job as chief corporate affairs officer at Rogers Communications, she expressed her frustrations with the “significant part of duties” rule in the Lobbying Act, known as the “20 per cent” rule, and the delay of the act’s review. “The act would allow [Bains] to [lobby] one day a week during a month. That's a lot of phone calls. That's a problem,” said Bélanger, providing a hypothetical scenario in how the 20-per-cent rule could allow someone to circumvent the five-year lobbying prohibition for DPOHs.

In May, Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) submitted the highest number of communication reports due to its annual lobby day on May 9. Discussions with officials centered around agriculture, international trade, avian influenza, and sustainability initiatives. The lobby day resulted in 67 of the organization’s 78 reports posted on the registry. A total of 3,713 communications reports across all organizations were filed.

MS Canada’s lobby days in May are the reason for the organization submitting the highest number of communication reports – 64 – to the federal lobbyists’ registry for the week of June 12. “MS Canada representatives highlighted recent scientific advances showing the integral role the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays in the development of MS,” said Daniel Corvino, MS Canada’s government relations manager, referring to a type of herpes virus that is spread through bodily fluids, especially saliva. Conversations also focused on “the need for the Government of Canada to make MS research a priority with dedicated funding in partnership with MS Canada.”

Ultra Information Solutions Ltd. joined the federal lobbyists’ registry for the first time to present their proprietary platform to politicians. The product helps identify whether an imported good has come from an area with known human right violations. The U.K.-based technology company hired Wellington Advocacy Inc. consultants Philippe Bolduc and Andrea van Vugt to represent it on the registry. Bolduc and Vugt registered on June 13.

In new registrations, the Coalition for Gun Control is back on the registry for the first time since 2006 to advocate for the passage of the federal government’s Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms). The Coalition for Gun Control hired John Delacourt, Sheamus Murphy, and William Shelling from Counsel Public Affairs Inc. to represent them on the registry.

Ring of Fire Metals Pty. Ltd. has added seven new consultants from Sandstone Group to communicate with officials regarding new technologies in mining, federal funding programs, and natural resource development. Skye Scruton, Naresh Raghubeer, Elia Lopez, Tamara Condie, Ronan Bosch, Kevin Bosch, and Matthew Trapp all registered to represent the company on June 12. 

New Registry

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on June 23 at 8:32 a.m. ET.

New Registrations

Reactivation