What the lobbyists are saying: taxes, trade among top lobbying issues as Parliament resumes
The break’s over and lobbyists have a number of pressing issues—taxes and trade, to name a few—they would like to take up with federal politicians who are back in Ottawa for the fall sitting. Parliament’s rise for the summer in June didn’t put a stop to new issues emerging in federal politics. For example, renegotiations […]
What does Health Canada’s latest biomonitoring study say about the state of Canada’s toxics law?
In 2010, Canada was the first country to declare bisphenol A (BPA) toxic and to ban its use in polycarbonate plastic baby bottles based on its risks to babies. This was celebrated by Canadians and positioned Canada as a global leader in addressing the health risks of toxic chemicals in consumer products. Fast forward to […]
Business groups target key MPs, committees in push against tax reforms
Business groups are gearing up for a tax-reform offensive, targeting MPs with backgrounds in finance, Parliamentarians on key committees, and those in swing-ridings to make Liberals nervous about their seats in what they say will become a ballot-box issue. “There are an awful lot of MPs and Senators with good grounding on financial issues. Those […]
House Transport Committee digs into Bill C-49
Before Parliament resumes next week, the House Transport Committee will return to Ottawa early to study Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act, which includes provisions for rail service and safety. The main provision on rail safety is one that will require railway companies to install inward-facing Locomotive Voice and Video Recorders (LVVR) in Canada. This […]
Trudeau’s ‘feminist’ government should remove sexual discrimination from Indian Act
CURVE LAKE, ONT.—Members of the Kawartha Truth and Reconciliation Support Group (KTRSG) are disappointed with federal Minister of Status of Women Maryam Monsef’s voting position on Bill S-3, an Act to Amend the Indian Act. As many people know, the Senate moved forward a version of Bill S-3, which removed all the sex discrimination in […]
Quebec’s lobbyist registry best in Canada, though all struggle in key transparency metrics: study
Most public lobbying registries in Canada are lacking pivotal disclosure requirements, leaving Canadians in the dark about the scope and cost of lobbying campaigns targeting government officials, suggests a new report. In an assessment released on Tuesday, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), a non-profit aiming to help institutional investors improve corporate governance, […]
Intra-party, all-party caucuses multiplying
Liberal MPs maintain more than two dozen active internal issues-based caucuses, on everything from automobiles to mental health, a number that has ballooned since the party formed government in 2015. Internal and all-party policy-focused groups are multiplying, according to Carleton University instructor Paul Thomas, who researches caucuses in Canada. In a decade, the count moved […]
Slow lobbying month dominated by mining and chocolate
The summer lull in federal lobbying was apparent in July, with the federal lobbyists registry getting less than half the communication reports filed in June, and the most prolific lobbyists last month being the Canadian division of Italian chocolate maker Ferrero and the Mining Association of Canada. As of last week, the registry showed that […]
All-party caucuses should make member lists public: animal rights group
An animal rights group is calling on one of Parliament’s largest all-party caucuses to make public its membership in a move that raises questions about the transparency of other such groups of MPs and Senators. Last fall, the Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus mobilized to help defeat a private member’s bill on animal rights, said Liz White, leader […]
Serious business, Cattlemen’s Association spreads its lobby days throughout year
PARLIAMENT HILL—Sure, Hill lobby days are great, but a regular practitioner of them says they only work when, as an interest group, you’re maintaining a regular presence with federal policy-makers outside of these marked occasions. “Rather than focusing on a single day throughout the year, we undertake a constant lobbying presence in Ottawa,” said John […]
