Lobby Wrap: Three consultants register for Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario
iPolitics.ca
December 17, 2019
Marco Vigliotti
Three consultants from StrategyCorp. registered last week on behalf of the group representing the political leaders of Ontario’s most populous municipalities to lobby on “green infrastructure, housing and other municipal priorities.”
The three identical filings submitted to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying were made by consultants Troy Sherman, Brian Teefy and John Matheson on behalf of the Large Urban Mayors‘ Caucus of Ontario, which represents 28 ‘big cities’ with populations of over 100,000. Those cities collectively represent 67 per cent of the province’s population.
The current chair of the caucus is Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie.
According to the filings, the StrategyCorp consultants plan on lobbying Employment and Social Development Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Finance Canada and Infrastructure Canada.
Keeping with the Ontario municipal sphere, Sherman and fellow StrategyCorp consultant Conal Slobodin filed matching registrations last week for the York Region to discuss the municipality’s “transit priorities and funding arrangements with federal government officials.”
York consists of the cities of Markham and Vaughan and the towns of Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina and Newmarket, as well as the Township of King.
Vaughan is home to three Toronto Transit Commission subway stations, the only subway stations located outside of Toronto proper.
The Canadian Craft Brewers Association registered its executive director Rick Dalmazzi as an in-house lobbyist, while consultant Sydney Cohen-McFarlane of Impact Public Affairs also registered to lobby on its behalf. The focus of these lobbying efforts, according to the registrations, are food regulations, specifically related to traceability of ingredients, and excise taxes. Cohen-McFarlane is also lobbying to find financial support to grow the industry.
Similarly, Crestview Strategy’s Andrew Brander registered for the Association of Canadian Distillers to lobby about excise taxes and the Canada-European Trade Agreement.
Collectively, there were 30 new registrations last week, which was also the last week the House of Commons sat in 2019. By lobbyist, Brander and Sherman led the way with five and four registrations, respectively. StrategyCorp won the week with eight registrations, followed closely by Crestview with seven. Earsncliffe, Hill+Knowlton and Impact Public Affairs each had two registrations.
The highlights:
In recent environment/energy/resources registrations:
Velma McColl registered for B.C. based pulp and paper company Paper Excellence Canada to discuss environmental assessments.
Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprises registered in-house staff. It’s seeking funding for various projects and to build capacity in the sector. They received about $1.2 million in federal funding last year.
Greengate Power Corporation hired Keith McLaughlin of New West Public Affairs Inc. to lobby for funding for a solar project in Alberta, especially from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
In recent health registrations:
The Vaping Industry Trade Association registered CEO Daniel David to lobby Health Canada about an itemized list of sections in The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act and nicotine levels.
In recent sports registrations:
MLS Canada Inc. wants it to be easier to get work visas for professional soccer plays. It hired Jason Clark of Crestview to assist. The firm is the Canadian wing of Major League Soccer, the top North American professional soccer league.
The league has three teams in Canada: Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps.
Adam Yahn of Summa Strategies registered for Commonwealth Games Canada to lobby for funding. According to the association’s website, government funding cuts in the past decade have been so dramatic that the 2022 Birmingham Games will likely be Canada’s last. CGC received $385,300 in federal funding last year.
In recent transportation registrations:
Gestion MTRP Inc., through contract with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, signed Troy Sherman of StrategyCorp. to lobby about the airline industry, specifically consolidation and consumer issues.
Of Note:
Missing Children Society of Canada wants to create a secondary national alert service for missing children. It signed Taylor Provak of Impact Public Affairs.
Nancy Cruz of Global Public Affairs registered for Lego Systems Inc. to lobby about plastics and waste reduction in the manufacturing process and use of Lego in education to promote STEM-related fields.
Communication Reports
There were 540 reports filed last week.
Most active client organizations:
Canadian Federation of Agriculture, by in-house staff, 42
Federation of Canadian Municipalities, by in-house staff, 20
University of Saskatchewan, by in-house staff, 19
Nature Canada, by in-house staff, 19
Zyus Life Sciences, by paid lobbyist, 18
The Canadian National Railway Company, by in-house staff, 15 (not surprisingly all took place during the November strike)
Most active paid lobbyists:
Douglas Richardson, for one client, 18
Justin Burrows, for two clients, 16
Craig Brockwell, for one client, 10
Amélie Gadient, for one client, 6
Bill Tieleman, for four clients, 6
Most lobbied public office holders:
Joanne Garrah, Director at Health Canada, 8
Christine Hogan, Deputy Minister at Environment and Climate Change Canada, 8
Nipun Vats, Assistant Deputy Minister at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 7
Chris Forbes, Deputy Minister at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 7
Karina Rolland, Conservative Research Bureau, 7
Olivier Cullen, Issues Management to Public Safety Minister, 6
Michael Keenan, Deputy Minister at Transport Canada, 6
Martine Dubuc, Associate Deputy Minister at Environment and Climate Change Canada, 6
Don Davies, MP, 6
Jamie MacDonald, Director of Nature Conservation at Environment and Climate Change Canada, 6
Most lobbied government institutions:
House of Commons, 123
Environment and Climate Change Canada, 51
Agriculture, 37
Natural Resources Canada, 36
Global Affairs, 32
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 28
Most lobbied subjects, based on the first two subjects listed on each filing:
Agriculture, 83
Environment, 60
Health, 60
Economic Development, 50
Science and Technology, 47
