Here’s a run-down of the news we covered this week:

The Lobby Monitor caught up with Jennifer Babcock, the newest consultant at Crestview Strategy’s Ottawa office, in our On Queen Street feature. Babcock lands at Crestview after more than a year of in-house lobbying as manager of policy, research and development with the Canadian Horticultural Council. Her background also includes time on the Hill as a former communications strategist under Conservative MP Gary Goodyear, when he was minister of state for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and as a former parliamentary secretary assistant in the Ministry of Transportation.

The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (OCIEC) released its second quarterly statistics report on Oct. 31, which showed a significant increase in the number of visitors to the public registry. People visiting and using the public registry database has gone up almost 53 per cent, from 6,985 in the last reporting period to 10,680 in this reporting period. A possible explanation for the greater activity could be the increase in Twitter use from the OCIEC. The report also shows attendance for presentations by the office are still low. In response, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion has plans for more video presentations that will be posted online.

More than 40 companies have banded together in the “Don’t Let Go Canada” campaign to encourage more support in the federal budget for Canada’s involvement with space.

The Lobby Monitor spoke with several campaign partners about their shared vision of Canada developing a long-term space strategy, arguing that innovation in space technologies, such as satellites and robotics, will be increasingly important economic drivers in coming years.

The various members support the campaign in different ways, including speaking engagements, social media and government relations.

Another group interested in support through next year’s federal budget is Unifor, the trade union that represents 4,000 Canadian journalists. Unifor representatives were lobbying on the Hill between Oct. 22 and Oct. 24, seeking cabinet ministers who would be champions for local news. The representatives met with eight of the 13 members of the Heritage committee, including chair Julie Dabrusin (Liberal), and vice-chairs Steven Blaney (Conservative) and Pierre Nantell (NDP).

In new registrations, RAREi – the Canadian Forum for Rare Disease Innovators is new on the registry as of Oct. 29. The group, a coalition of several pharmaceutical and other health sector companies, has brought on consultants William Dempster and Rachel Manion of 3Sixty Public Affairs to discuss implementation of the intellectual property-related elements of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The two will be communicating with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Global Affairs, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), and Innovation, as well as MPs and senators.

The Agricultural Bank of China Vancouver Representative Office also started its first file on Oct. 17. The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) has engaged consultant Adam Johnson in Earnscliffe Strategy Group’s British Columbia office to discuss the possibility of opening a full branch in Canada. Johnson will be communicating with the PMO, Finance, Agriculture, Global Affairs and Innovation.

U.S.-based metallurgy company Ellwood Group started a file Oct. 30 because it is interested in discussing the surtax that was issued in July by the Canadian government in retaliation for the U.S.’ steel and aluminum tariffs. Consultant Phil Trinh of Maple Leaf Strategies will be communicating with the PMO, Finance, Global Affairs, Infrastructure and Innovation.

New registry filings posted between 2018-10-29 and 2018-11-02

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry at 9:30 a.m. on Fri. Nov. 2.
 

New registrations

Reactivations