Here’s the news we covered this week:

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion has found that Liberal MP and Parliamentary Secretary Greg Fergus breached the Conflict of Interest Act when he wrote a letter of support for a television network to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) because he is a parliamentary secretary. In the Fergus Report, published on Feb. 14, Dion wrote that Fergus contravened section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act by writing a letter in support of Natyf Inc., which had an application before the CRTC. Section 9 of the act prohibits public office holders from using their position to influence a decision that could further the private interests of the public office holder or that individual’s relatives or friends, or to “to improperly further another person's private interests.” Ministers and parliamentary secretaries are subject to both the Conflict of Interest Act and Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. Backbench and opposition MPs are subject only to the code.

Dion also announced his retirement on Feb. 14, which will take effect on Feb. 23. “I have been honoured to serve Parliament and Canadians as conflict of interest and ethics commissioner for the past five years and am grateful for the confidence Parliament has placed in me,” Dion said in a statement. “Regrettably, I cannot continue to discharge the responsibilities of the position because of persistent health issues.”

Counsel Public Affairs is offering clients a new training program to improve their engagement with Indigenous peoples. Nibwaakaawin (pronounced nib-wah-kah-win) is a training program to build clients’ understanding of appropriate engagement with Indigenous peoples whose rights and interests intersect with their work. “Many universities offer programs in Indigenous studies, but in some ways it's lacking the focus of dealing on a business-to-business, on a nation-to-nation basis with the Indigenous communities,” said John Beaucage, a principal at Counsel and a former grand council chief of the Anishinabek Nation (also known as the Union of Ontario Indians). “So we said, well, let's put ourselves out there. We’ll provide training, we’ll provide some knowledge, we’ll provide some wisdom to some of those companies that really are wanting to do the right thing.”

The Breakfast Club of Canada reached out to more than 30 ministers about a national school food policy in January. The organization contributed 49 of the 1,755 reports posted to the federal lobbyists’ registry for communications that took place in January. Last month was the third-busiest January for lobbying, in terms of communications posted on the lobbyists’ registry. Economic development was the topic lobbyists wanted to discuss the most with federal officials, appearing in 314 reports, followed by the environment (273), energy (240), and industry (222).

In more recent communication reports, Communitech Corporation submitted nine of the 209 communication reports filed to the federal lobbyists’ registry last week. The Kitchener, Ont.-based innovation centre is represented on the registry by president and CEO Chris Albinson. The company’s reports were all for communications in January, including discussions with Defence Minister Anita Anand on Jan. 11, and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Jan. 13. Communitech also communicated on Jan. 13 with Liberal MPs Bardish Chagger, Tim Louis, Valerie Bradford, and Green MP Mike Morrice. Those MPs all represent ridings in Ontario’s Waterloo region, which includes Kitchener.

In new registrations, Road Soup started its first file on Feb. 13 with consultant Bruce Hartley of Prospectus Associates. The Escondido, Calif.-based company produces recycled material for asphalt, concrete and sidewalk repair. The company has offices in California, Kansas, Alabama, Florida, and Iowa. Road Soup is seeking government contracts related to road maintenance, according to its registry file. Hartley will seek discussions with officials at Public Services, Crown-Indigenous Relations, Indigenous Services, Transport, Rural Economic Development, Parks Canada, and Defence Construction Canada.

Also new to the registry is Cloud Software Group Canada, Inc., the Toronto-based subsidiary of U.S. tech company Cloud Software Group. The company is the result of a merger between Citrix Systems, Inc. and TIBCO Software. Cloud Software Group has hired consultant David Angus of the Capital Hill Group, who registered on Feb. 13 to represent the firm in discussions with 30 government institutions, including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Public Services, Innovation, Shared Services, and the Canada Revenue Agency, as well as with MPs. According to its registry file, Cloud Software Group is seeking government contracting opportunities for cloud and information technology service management tools.

Boosting its representation on the registry is the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which has hired Provoke Public Affairs consultants Sydney Oakes and Shireen Salti. Oakes and Salti registered on Feb. 1, joining Blackbird Strategies consultants Lisa Kirbie, Lucas Borchenko, and Tom Potter. According to its registry file, the Provoke consultants will help co-ordinate meetings with government officials regarding First Nations’ advocacy on government policies and programs within their traditional territories. Those discussions will target officials in 22 government institutions, including the PMO, Crown-Indigenous Relations, Indigenous Services, Finance, Health, Environment, Natural Resources, and Women and Gender Equality, as well as with MPs and senators.

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on Feb. 17 at 9:03 a.m. ET.

New registrations

Reactivations

The Lobby Monitor will not publish on Mon. Feb. 20, due to the Family Day public holiday, but will return to its regular publishing schedule on Tues. Feb. 21. Have a happy and safe long weekend!