Pot lobbying to remain high in wake of legalization, insiders say
Since the Liberals came to power with a promise of cannabis legalization, a sophisticated government relations industry has bloomed out of the historic policy shift, with lobbying skyrocketing and the companies registered since 2015 having doubled those in the arena compared to three years before. That comes as no surprise to any involved in the […]
With science funding restored, universities and colleges push for more student support in 2019 budget
Building on unprecedented investments for science in the 2018 budget, universities and colleges are pressing the Liberals ahead of the 2019 budget for new funding to cover the “least sexy” costs of research, as well as dramatically expanding the number of students in work placements. More than two-dozen individual universities and colleges, as well as […]
Canada has ‘straightforward’ path to ratify USMCA, but timeline reliant on unpredictable Americans
With a Liberal majority government, Canada has a “straightforward” path to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement before the 2019 election, but as with most of the yearlong trade negotiations, concluding the deal relies on a decidedly uncertain path in the United States. Getting to the signing stage of the renamed NAFTA pact shouldn’t be a problem, […]
Despite dairy concessions under USMCA, Trudeau Liberals’ ambitions in Quebec likely not in peril, strategists say
The Trudeau government’s decision to bow down to U.S. pressure to loosen restrictions on access to Canada’s dairy industry is a cudgel for opposition parties, but strategists say there are limits to how far they can ride the wave of backlash from the industry. The new NAFTA deal, renamed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, was […]
Trade deal with U.S., Mexico muted political win for Trudeau Liberals: observers
After more than a year of gruelling negotiations over a signature trilateral trade agreement with an often mercurial administration, the Trudeau government emerged with a deal that, some trade observers say, is the best one it could have reached, handing it a political win even in the face of immediate backlash from the dairy lobby. […]
NAFTA deal a win for Trudeau, but not a get-out-of-jail-free card
OTTAWA—Justin Trudeau has a trade deal. Over the weekend, Canada and the United States were able to come to a preliminary agreement on a successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), henceforth to be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). While its acronym could be confused with a Village People song popular […]
I have no ‘mechanisms of leverage over anybody’: Inside the Senate’s Government Representative Office
In an Upper Chamber that is increasingly inching towards greater independence, gauging support for government legislation is “not a science—it’s an art,” according to the man tasked with keeping score. As one of the three Senators who makes up the Government Representative Office—along with government representative Peter Harder (Ottawa, Ont.) and legislative deputy Diane Bellemare […]
GRIC announces new school ties at colourful back-to-Parliament bash
Despite the outdoor summery setting, there was a distinct back-to-school vibe among government relations professionals who turned out for a Back to Parliament networking event on Sept. 13. Held at the scenic Tavern on the Hill in Major’s Hill Park, the annual shindig hosted by the Government Relations Institute of Canada (GRIC) drew about 50 people between […]
NAFTA players top Canada’s 40 most-influential foreign-policy minds
When it comes to who is influencing Canadian foreign policy, there’s the people working on files related to the United States, and then there’s everyone else. The constant focus of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with an adversarial United States President Donald Trump has necessarily sucked resources and […]
New business coalition makes late-stage play in NAFTA talks to keep trade free
With Canada and the United States in the late stages of NAFTA trade talks, a new coalition of entrenched business interests is lobbying to preserve the trilateral agreement. In an effort to demonstrate the business community’s alignment on NAFTA, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has been stringing together a collective of like-minded business groups and […]
