Fertilizer Canada fête draws crowd in Ottawa

Fertilizer Canada held a reception with Ottawa lawmakers Tuesday, drawing mix of lobbyists, policy pros, corporate representatives, Hill staffers and MPs to the event.

Lobby Monitor editorial intern Denis Ram was on hand with his camera to follow the scene. All photos by Ram.

The bustling reception at the Metropolitan Brasserie was packed with individuals representing various political parties, advocacy groups and corporations.

General topics in the air touched on trade and interprovincial relations.

The Metropolitan Brasserie was filled with parliamentarians and lobbyists representing a variety of groups on April 19.

The Metropolitan Brasserie was filled with parliamentarians and lobbyists representing a variety of groups on April 19.

MPs spotted at the event included Liberal MP T.J. Harvey, Bloc MP Louis Plamondon and Conservative MPs Marilyn Gladu and Robert Kitchen.

2

Bloc MP Louis Plamondon (left) and Benoit Violette (right), a staffer from Conservative MP Kellie Leitch’s office, pose for a photo.

3

Rookie MP Liberal T.J. Harvey (right), pictured with Dennis Prouse (left), vice president of government affairs at Crop Life Canada, were mingling with the crowd at the event. Many got a chance to introduce themselves to the new MP.

The large group of attendees at the event included a diverse mix of representatives from across the country. The attendees included consultants, executives, and board members from different companies and organizations.

From left to right: Gay Patrick, executive director of Saskatchewan Potash Producers Association; Mark Frachhia, president and CEO of PCS Potash, also known as PotashCorp; Cam Baker, manager of government relations Canada at PCS Potash; and Hugh Loomans, president and CEO of Sylvite all mingled over a few drinks at the Fertilizer Canada event.

From left to right: Gay Patrick, executive director of Saskatchewan Potash Producers Association, Inc.; Mark Frachhia, president and CEO of PCS Potash, also known as PotashCorp; Cam Baker, manager of government relations Canada at PCS Potash; and Hugh Loomans, president and CEO of Sylvite were spotted at the Fertilizer Canada event.

6

Don Kitson (left), from International Raw Materials Ltd., and Bob Adamson (right), chair of Nutrients for Life Foundations, discussed the changing global environment around the fertilizers industry.




Lobby days roundup: Hill sees packed week of advocacy events and open houses

This week saw a lot of advocacy action on the Hill, with a number of groups holding lobby days or MP meet-and-greet receptions to introduce new parliamentarians to their respective organizations.

Lobby Monitor editorial intern Denis Ram followed the scene to scope out some of the events taking place. All photos by Ram, unless otherwise specified.

20160411 Innovative Medicines Canada Open House DR 0023

The Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association of Canada and the Canadian Camping and RV Council held a two-pronged day of engagement Wednesday on the Hill, followed by a press conference Thursday.

The first portion of the RVDA’s advocacy day was meeting with around 40 MPs to discuss tourism infrastructure and investments in national parks.

At a meet-and-greet reception later the same day, parliamentarians and staff mingled with representatives from the RVDA and CCRVC in the Parliamentary Restaurant.

There was a diverse group of industry members from all over North America, not just Canada, to meet with new and returning government representatives and introduce the RVDA organization generally.

The next day, Sam Parks, chairman of RVDA and Robert Trask, chairman of the CCRVC, held a joint press conference to address the needs of the recreational vehicle sector.

Sam Parks, chairman of RVDA of Canada opened the Thursday press conference on the Hill (top left) by discussing tourism infrastructure and investments. Robert Trask, chairman of CCRVC, poses with Brian Wilkins, chairman of US-based RVDA (bottom left) during the Wednesday reception at the Parliamentary Restaurant. Trask (bottom right) also spoke at the Thursday press conference, on tax treatment for campsites. Dennis Crockatt (top right), president of the Manitoba Association of Campgrounds and Parks, talks to other members of the RVDA and the CCRVC during the reception on Wednesday.

Sam Parks, chairman of RVDA of Canada opened the Thursday press conference on the Hill (top left) by discussing tourism infrastructure and investments. Robert Trask, chairman of CCRVC, poses with Brian Wilkins, chairman of US-based RVDA (bottom left) during the Wednesday reception at the Parliamentary Restaurant. Trask (bottom right) also spoke at the Thursday press conference, on tax treatment for campsites. Dennis Crockatt (top right), president of the Manitoba Association of Campgrounds and Parks, talks to other members of the RVDA and the CCRVC during the reception on Wednesday.

The main asks from the groups related to how government tourism marketing should recognize the importance of RVing and the need for a review of small business tax policy affecting camp sites.

Currently, camp sites are grouped with apartments and mobile home complexes, making them ineligible for the small business tax benefit.

Parks and Trask both hammered the importance of RVing to the Canadian economy, citing billions of dollars generated by the industry both directly and indirectly.

“This is an opportunity for the government to commit dedicated funding towards required RV infrastructure in our national park system, which is a crucial requirement for the industry to thrive,” said Parks.

Infrastructure asks from the groups related to making improvements to meet sizing requirements for larger RVs, electrical connections and waste disposal facilities at Parks Canada locations.

Infrastructure files also saw attention this week from representatives of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc. , which held an advocacy day in Ottawa on Tuesday.

The insurance advocacy group didn’t hold a reception or open house, but reported planned meetings with key legislators privately to discuss drug costs, genetic testing and the possibility of reintroducing public-private partnership requirements for certain infrastructure projects.

Wednesday, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection hosted an advocacy day as well, holding a reception to speak with lawmakers and stakeholders in policing and industry about their efforts against child pornography and to seek out meaningful partnerships to address the criminal act.

According to posts on Twitter, many Members of Parliament, cabinet ministers and staff representatives were in attendance. This included Liberal cabinet members Patty Hajdu, Carolyn Bennett, Ralph Goodale and MP Michael Levitt. Conservatives at the event included Senator Don Plett and MP Harold Albrecht, according to posts on social media.

Earlier in the week, on Monday, pharmaceutical industry group Innovative Medicines Canada was on the Hill holding an open house with two main objectives.

The first objective was to reintroduce the rebranded organization to returning and new MPs. The group was known as Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies until the beginning of 2016.

Taking lawmakers on a “direct discovery journey” from drug development to public availability was the second objective of the open house.

Innovative Medicines Canada (top centre) introduces their rebrand. President of IMC Russell Williams poses for a photo (top left) during the reception. Five stations were set up in the room, as a guided tour from medicine development to deployment. Food and drinks were available in the packed room, as IMC representatives met with legislators to introduce themselves.

Innovative Medicines Canada (top centre) introduces their rebrand. President of IMC Russell Williams poses for a photo (top left) during the reception. Five stations were set up in the room, as a guided tour from medicine development to deployment. Food and drinks were available in the packed room, as IMC representatives met with legislators to introduce themselves.

IMC had five stations set up, with researchers, company representatives and other stakeholders explaining the process of a medicine’s development and deployment.

One of the key undertones of the stations was discussing the impacts of Canada’s patchwork of regulation that differs from region to region. The pricing of a drug, based on various private or public coverage, was also explained.

One of the key themes of the night was how to speed up the process for a new medicine, so it can get to the patient that needs it sooner rather than later.

MPs making an appearance at the IMC open house included Liberal parliamentary secretary to the PM Celina Chavannes and Conservatives Ed Fast and Cheryl Gallant. Companies with representatives at the event included Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Bayer and Sanofi.




Progress Summit: One year later

A year ago, as organizers prepared for the annual Broadbent Institute Progress Summit, the federal NDP were witnessing an uptick in support as parties prepped for a federal election call that would come mid-way through summer 2015.

Twelve months later, the scene at Thursday’s summit opening reception was packed, lively and boisterous, defying the somber mood settling over Canada’s progressive NPD supporters as they gear up for a leadership review at an April 8 convention in Edmonton.

The party was left with just 44 seats in the House following the October election, after winning 103 in 2011. 

Polling shows the party’s support at historically dismal levels, according to a recent poll from Ekos for iPolitics. The poll shows the NDP at just 11.7 per cent support among Canadians, the lowest level since 2003. 

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair arrived mid-way through festivities at the opening gala on Thursday, drawing requests for selfies from a number of attendees noshing on hors-d’oeuvres and making custom anti-Donald Trump lapel pins in the crowd. 

While some attendees remarked on the contrast between the jovial mood and upcoming scrutiny on the progressive party’s election performance, Ottawa’s GR community showed up in full force to the event. The opening reception was sponsored by the Government Relations Institute of Canada, members of which regularly show up at events like the left-leaning Progress Summit and right-leaning Manning Centre Conference that encourage public policy discourse more broadly. 

Influence and policy professionals spotted amongst the crowd included: GRIC president André Albinati, among other institute board members; former NDP MP turned World Wildlife Fund Canada consultant on ocean governance Megan LeslieCrestview Strategy consultants Stephen Hampton and Joanna Carey (who joined the firm recently after a stint with Capital Hill Group); Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs government relations and university outreach director Allyson Grant; and U15 Group‘s new public affairs director Dylan Hanley, also formerly of CIJA, among others. 

Summit activities continued through the weekend, with a Friday panel on infrastructure raising questions among government relations veterans about the role of the private sector in consultations on design of Ottawa’s promised infrastructure spending programs.

It’s been a busy post-election season for the GR sector, which witnessing a 185 per cent jump in lobby activity in the capital in February.

Here at The Lobby Monitor, we’ve been caught up in the action too (scroll down, and you’ll see why this blog post is framed as a one-year reflection), and are busy gearing up for another heavy month of advocacy on the Hill.

Stay tuned to our website for the latest on who is making waves in the federal influence community, and for updates from the events, reception and lobby day scene in Ottawa. Lobbying and government relations action will be from groups including pharmaceutical industry representatives, insurance pros, recreational vehicle dealers, air liner advocates and others, through the month of April. 

Open Dialogue Forum draws federal dollars

Further east in Ottawa, the Open Dialogue Conference, hosted jointly by Liberal supporter-linked think tank Canada 2020 and collaboration agency PubliVate, took over the Shaw Centre on Thursday and Friday. 

Treasury Board president Scott Brison kicked off festivities with an address calling for government to “be open by default” and announcing consultations on a new open government policy.

The veteran Liberal spoke of ushering in a new era of transparency, arguing that the federal government would now have to justify why they are withholding information instead of having those requesting it explain why they need it. He also called for a dismantling of overly bureaucratic structures to woo younger workers to government service.

In a lighter moment, Brison gamely fought back against reporter questions on offering government funding for the event, which exclusively featured speeches from Liberal politicians and private sector professionals. 

When asked how he would respond if the former government had done the same, he said had the Conservatives earmarked money for an open government event the Grits would have instead been “pleasantly surprised.”

– With files from Lobby Monitor reporters Alyssa O’Dell and Marco Vigliotti