Here’s a look back at the news we covered this week:

A group of pharmaceutical and insurance companies have put a hold on advocacy efforts related to pharmacare until after the delayed federal budget is finally released. The budget, originally scheduled for March 30, will instead be read on a date still to be determined. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has formed a national pharmacare working group with members including Sun Life, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The group’s next roundtable to discuss pharmacare in the budget, originally planned for mid-April, will hopefully be held before summer, according to Ian Faris, senior vice-president of Chamber network relations and advocacy. The Lobby Monitor took a closer look at some of the major government policymakers related to the pharmacare file in this policy map story.

The shutdown of Parliament until April 20 due to the COVID-19 outbreak has forced several organizations to reschedule formal lobby days on the Hill until fall. The Canadian Association of Neuroscience (CAN) and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture both had lobby days planned for March 31, which have been postponed. This would have been CAN’s first formal advocacy day in Ottawa. Julie Poupart, CAN’s chief operating officer, said rescheduling the event is a logistical hassle, but acknowledged the importance of doing so because of the potential health risks.

Now is a good time to lobby with proposals related to health care, economic stimulation and job creation, according to consultants from Crestview Strategy in a webinar on March 17. Sarina Rehal, a vice-president at the Crestview office in Toronto, said this is “an unprecedented opportunity” to build public-private partnerships because the government is highly interested in developing health and economic strategies to contend with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. Joseph Lavoie, the firm’s national practice lead for campaigns and digital mobilization, spoke during the webinar about the digital tools available for engaging government officials, including social media platforms and accelerated mobile pages optimized for browsing.

A total of 1,059 communication reports were posted to the federal lobbyists’ registry between March 9 and March 13. With 38 reports each, the Chicken Farmers of Canada and the Canadian Horticultural Council tied as the most active groups. Both organizations were active in February with lobby days on the Hill, with the Chicken Farmers in Ottawa on Feb. 6, while the Horticultural Council held its Farm to Plate event for parliamentarians on Feb. 25.

In new registrations, Kohl & Frisch, a national distributor of pharmaceutical products, started its first file on the registry on March 19 with consultant Derrick Araneda of Stosic & Associates. The company would like its services deemed “essential,” to ensure operations would not be disrupted if the federal government were to announce a wider shutdown of businesses across Canada because of COVID-19. Araneda will communicate with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Health, Finance and the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat.

Six other businesses and organizations have returned to the registry or added to existing files since March 9 with concerns related to COVID-19. One of those is Baxter Corporation, which added Araneda to its file on March 19. The company was already active on the registry with its president, Stephen Thompson, registered in-house.

Baxter, which manufactures medical products for hospitals, is concerned about a possible shutdown of businesses across Canada because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and registered to seek assurance from the federal government that its manufacturing facilities and supply chain would not be disrupted. Araneda will communicate with the PMO, Health Canada, and the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat.

Sunwing Travel Group, a travel company and tour operator, started a file on March 13 with consultant Matthew Triemstra of Ensight Canada. Triemstra’s colleague, consultant Nivitha Jeyakumar, was added on March 16. The company would like to discuss the possible impacts of travel restrictions that have developed because of COVID-19 with the federal government. The two consultants will communicate with the PMO, Transport, Finance, Export Development Canada, Innovation, and with MPs.

New registry files

Based on a search of the federal lobbyists' registry on March 20, at 9:00 a.m.

New registrations

Reactivations