Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) was lobbied 55 times last year, communication reports filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying show, putting him among the top 10 most lobbied government ministers for 2014.
Industry Minister James Moore (Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, B.C.) took the top spot, with 93 reported communications, followed by Finance Minister Joe Oliver (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.) and Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.).
Michelle Rempel (Calgary Centre-North, Alta.), the minister of state for Western Economic Diversification, was fourth. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster, Sask.), the most lobbied minister in 2012 and 2013, dropped to number five last year.
The 55 communications with the Prime Minister were significantly more than in any year since the registry came online in mid-2008. The previous high was 36 in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Only 24 communications were reported in 2013.
Communication reports often refer to meetings but they can also include phone calls and other correspondence.
The Hill Times contacted a number of insiders about possible reasons for the Prime Minister’s apparent increased availability and no consensus was found. The PMO did not respond to a request for comment.
Some suggested the possibility of meeting more interest groups ahead of an election year but the majority of Mr. Harper’s communications were before the fall, when that kind of pre-election work would have taken place.
Another suggestion was that the PM took over more business files after the late Jim Flaherty had left the Finance portfolio, and he continued to make up for the absence of former PMO chief of staff Nigel Wright, who left the office in May 2013 after it was reported by CTV that he wrote Senator Mike Duffy a $90,000 cheque to repay improper expense claims.
“I don’t think that there’s any one strategic or tactical reason why this is changing other than just growth,” said Chad Rogers, a partner at Crestview Strategy.
There were more economic files requiring the Prime Minister’s involvement than in past years, he said, from international trade to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
“Government and business have to talk when their interests are aligned and there’s a pretty orderly way to do it,” he said.
Lobbyists’ and government’s approach to the registry is also normalizing, Mr. Rogers said, with both sides becoming more comfortable with the process where they may have been intimidated in the years immediately after the new lobbying regulations came into force in 2008.
Mark Cameron, a senior vice-president at Hill & Knowlton Strategies and former PMO director of policy and research, said he doesn’t think the increase is significant.
“If there is any difference, Nigel Wright obviously had close business connections so [Mr. Harper] may have done more of those meetings himself,” Mr. Cameron said in an interview.
Business leaders would have felt very comfortable meeting with the former Onex Corp. executive because of his business background, Mr. Cameron said, and wouldn’t have felt, while he was there, that they would also have to meet with the PM.
Mr. Wright took 21 meetings in 2011, his first year in the job, and 37 in 2012, the registry shows. Nine communications were reported with him in 2013 before his May departure.
His successor, Ray Novak, took five meetings after taking over as chief in 2013, and seven communications were reported with him in 2014. Some lobbyists have suggested the PMO is taking fewer meetings since Mr. Wright left but a previous Hill Times analysis showed only a slight decline in overall meetings with the top office.
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), a large trade organization representing thousands of manufacturing companies, had the most contact with the PM in 2014, reporting seven communications. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) was next with five.
The Canola Council of Canada reported four communications with the PM, all of them on Mr. Harper’s trip to Mexico last February where the association was a delegate, along with the CME.
Lobbyists weren’t at all surprised by the list of most lobbied ministers last year, as they all manage economic files that firms and associations were looking to engage on. Mr. Moore’s portfolio ranges from cars to telecom to aerospace and he met with companies from across the spectrum. Mr. Oliver was lobbied often as minister of Natural Resources and his numbers rose when he moved to Finance in April.
Mr. Kenney was busy throughout the spring and summer on the government’s contentious Temporary Foreign Worker Program. He imposed a moratorium on the program for the restaurant industry in April, following reports that some restaurants, including three McDonald’s franchises, had abused it, before announcing reforms in June that reduced its use for low-wage workers and raised fees for companies.
Former Veterans Affairs minister Julian Fantino (Vaughan, Ont.) was the least lobbied minister in 2014, with only six reported communications. Mr. Fantino, who was shuffled out of the portfolio earlier this month, was criticized for his reluctance to meet with veterans groups.
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson (Niagara Falls, Ont.), the least lobbied minister in 2013, had the second-lowest total last year, with eight.
With an election scheduled for Oct. 19, lobbyists said the approach would be different in 2015 with interest groups’ focus on influencing policy through party platforms.
“Every lobbyist is desperately trying to figure out who’s holding the pen on each platform, or who’s holding the pen on their chapter, and is advocating for their clients,” Mr. Rogers said. “I think the parties are fatigued and annoyed at the high level of input being offered unsolicited. And I think the platforms are sparser each year, not more inclusive.”
Mr. Cameron said there would probably be fewer “routine transactional meetings taking place because people are going to be waiting to see what happens after the election.”
mburgess@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
Meetings reported with PM Stephen Harper in 2014
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME)
Communication Date: 2014-12-11
Xerox Canada Ltd.
Designated Public Office Holders:
Communication Date: 2014-12-11
Selwyn Chihong Mining Limited
Consultant: Dennis Fentie
Communication Date: 2014-12-05
Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Communication Date: 2014-11-28
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations / Alliance
canadienne des associations etudiantes
Communication Date: 2014-11-19
BlackBerry Limited
Communication Date: 2014-11-09
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)
Communication Date: 2014-10-27
Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association operating as Restaurants Canada
Communication Date: 2014-10-21
TELUS Corporation
Communication Date: 2014-10-02
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME)
Communication Date: 2014-09-18
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME)
Communication Date: 2014-09-03
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)
Communication Date: 2014-09-03
Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada)
Communication Date: 2014-08-13
KPMG LLP / KPMG s.r.l.
Communication Date: 2014-08-13
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP / PricewaterhouseCoopers s.r.l./ s.e.n.c.r.l.
Communication Date: 2014-08-13
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame / Pantheon des Sports Canadiens
Communication Date: 2014-08-11
CAMECO CORPORATION
Communication Date: 2014-07-30
World Renew
Communication Date: 2014-07-15
International Ship-Owners Alliance of Canada Inc. (ISAC)
Communication Date: 2014-06-09
Monthly Communication Report Syngenta Canada Inc.
Communication Date: 2014-05-14
U15-Group of Canadian Research Universities
Communication Date: 2014-05-14
Canadian Real Estate Association
Consultant: Laura Leyser, The Canadian Real Estate Association
Communication Date: 2014-05-08
Canadian Real Estate Association
Consultant: Wilfred (Bill) Briggs
Communication Date: 2014-05-08
Canadian Real Estate Association
Consultant: Pauline Aunger
Communication Date: 2014-05-08
Canadian Real Estate Association
Consultant: Beth Alexander
Communication Date: 2014-05-08
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Communication Date: 2014-05-05
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Communication Date: 2014-05-05
World Vision Canada
Communication Date: 2014-04-25
BlackBerry Limited
Communication Date: 2014-04-25
Babcock & Willcox Canada Ltd.
Communication Date: 2014-04-25
Canadian Renewable Fuels Association
Communication Date: 2014-04-08
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)
Communication Date: 2014-03-27
Petroleum Services Association of Canada
Communication Date: 2014-03-27
Canadian Federation of Independent
Business (CFIB)
Communication Date: 2014-03-26
International Ship-Owners Alliance of Canada Inc. (ISAC)
Communication Date: 2014-03-26
Magellan Aerospace Corporation
Communication Date: 2014-03-26
Shell Canada Limited
Communication Date: 2014-03-24
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME) / Alliance des manufacturiers et des exportateurs du Canada (MEC)
Communication Date: 2014-03-23
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)
Communication Date: 2014-03-23
International Ship-Owners Alliance of Canada Inc. (ISAC)
Communication Date: 2014-03-23
CANADIAN CATTLEMENS’ ASSOCIATION
Communication Date: 2014-03-05
Shaw Communications
Communication Date: 2014-03-05
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME)
Communication Date: 2014-02-28
sanofi-aventis Canada Inc.
Communication Date: 2014-02-28
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME)
Communication Date: 2014-02-20
Monthly Communication Report Canola Council of Canada
Communication Date: 2014-02-20
Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada (CME)
Communication Date: 2014-02-19
Canola Council of Canada
Designated Public Office Holders:
Communication Date: 2014-02-19
Canola Council of Canada
Communication Date: 2014-02-18
Canola Council of Canada
Communication Date: 2014-02-17
Chrysler Canada Inc.
Communication Date: 2014-02-11
Imperial Oil Limited
Communication Date: 2014-02-07
University of Manitoba
Communication Date: 2014-02-07
Rogers Communications Inc.
Communication Date: 2014-02-05
Entertainment Software Association of Canada
Communication Date: 2014-02-04
Data compiled using the Office of Commissioner of Lobbying’s online registry
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com/
Author: MARK BURGESS
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