Potash, Natural Gas and Pipelines Dominated Lobbying in January
Germany's K+S Potash, Calgary's AltaGas and TransCanada Pipelines led the list of communications with public office holders
Back by popular demand, it’s Do Not Pass Go’s monthly lobbying report. As always, we’re looking at total monthly communications registered by federal lobbyists, who they met with and what they discussed.
The usual caveats apply – an unusually large number of communications, especially on the same date, can indicate that a lobbying entity met with a group of designated public office holders all at once, though the rules require an individual report for each person.
We’re generally interested in corporate interests and who they met with here, so we’re not paying too much attention to other special interest groups – though industry associations are on the radar. As this is an ongoing and evolving feature, we’re continuing to tweak what we’re reporting and how.
With that said, the top five overall lobbyists for January (not necessarily corporate) were the National Council of Muslims, with 84 reports, almost all on Jan. 26; the Carbon Business Development Council with 57, mostly on Jan. 14; the Canadian Steel Producers Association with 55, almost all on Jan. 15; and K+S Potash and AltaGas Ltd, detailed below.
TOP FIVE COMPANIES
35: K+S Potash
The Saskatoon-based unit of Germany’s K+S Group led companies in lobbying last month with 35 communications with public office holders, mostly on Jan. 12 and 13. Company representatives met with Transport Canada officials, including deputy minister Arun Thangaraj, in more than a third of those, as well as five communications with the Canadian Transportation Agency and four with Natural Resources Canada.
The official reported subject of discussion was to “ensure understanding of the transportation network factors and issues facing export-dependent potash in a global marketplace.”
Canada’s potash industry is another of the many that have come under tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. In response, the federal government has been seeking new markets and partnerships for Canadian fertilizers, such as those discussed in recent talks with India.
32: AltaGas Ltd.
Calgary-based energy infrastructure provider AltaGas posted 32 communications last month, nearly a third of which were with Transport Canada, including Minister Steven McKinnon, plus 10 with the Privy Council Office and two with the Prime Minister’s Office, spaced throughout January.
Subjects discussed included the development of marine infrastructure to support natural gas exports and possible expansion of liquefied propane gas export terminals on the west coast of British Columbia.
AltaGas is currently embroiled in controversy over a construction project on Ridley Island in British Columbia. As The Globe and Mail reports, the Metlakatla First Nation – which co-owns a coal exporter on the island – is upset with the Prince Rupert Port Authority’s decision to block its diversification efforts into propane and butane, and has thus withdrawn its support for the AltaGas project.
31: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
APTN, the Winnipeg-based Indigenous media organization, did all of its lobbying for the month on Jan. 27 and 28, with half a dozen communications reported for each of Indigenous Services Canada, the Privy Council Office and Heritage Canada.
The organization listed “raising awareness and seeking support for APTN and Indigenous issues,” as the subject of its communications. Some of these reports appear to be duplicates – a spokesperson was not able to clarify before publication.
28: TransCanada Pipelines
The subsidiary of Calgary-based TC Energy logged 31 communications last month, 13 of which were with National Resources Canada, four with with Environment and Climate Change Canada and three with National Defence, with a good portion taking place on Jan. 27.
According to the company’s official reports, meetings were in regards to the Department of Finance’s proposed legislation around tax measures for excessive interest and financing expensive, as well as to seek government support for an electricity storage project.
TC Energy recently reported strong quarterly profit numbers on record natural gas flow and increased demand for power. The company is looking to locate more infrastructure closer to data centres in an effort to capitalize on their seemingly insatiable demand.
23: Toyota Canada
The Japanese automaker last month filed four of its 23 communications with Innovation, Science and Economic Development officials, including Minister Melanie Joly, as well as 14 with Members of Parliament.
Auto makers continue to be at the centre of U.S. trade disputes, which is why the company’s reported discussion subjects included the Canada-US-Mexico Free Trade Agreement, as well as Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle sales mandate regulations and infrastructure development.
Toyota is pushing its story to both public office holders and the media, telling CBC last month that it is committed to Canada and particularly its Ontario plants despite the U.S.-provoked industry turmoil.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
34: Matthew O’Connell, deputy director of financial sector policy, Finance Canada. For at least the second month in a row (since we’ve started tracking), O’Connell leads the list of designated public office holders with 34 reported lobbyist communications. Not surprisingly given his position, banks and their representatives made up the bulk of those contacts, including the Canadian Bankers Association (six), TD (three), CIBC (two) and BMO (two) among them.
30: Galen Richardson, senior advisor stakeholder relations, Privy Council Office (PCO). Richardson also makes his second appearance in a row on this list (out of a possible two), with 30 total communications. Richardson met with a broad array of lobbyists, including twice with each of the Canola Council of Canada, AltaGas (mentioned above) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. The PCO acts as an advisory and organizational body for the Prime Minister’s Office, often coordinating actions between different departments.
30: Yasmin Atassi, senior policy advisor, ISED. Yet another two-time entrant, Minister Joly’s advisor Atassi showed up in 30 communications, including five with the Global Automakers of Canada, and three each with Australian mining company Wyloo and Toronto-based timber manufacturer Element5.
19: Corey Hogan, Member of Parliament for Calgary Confederation. Not present among last month’s communications leaders, Liberal MP Hogan met with a broad range of lobbyists, including from the University of Calgary, the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo and Vancouver-based lumber company Western Forest Products.
18: Tim Logan, senior policy advisor, ISED. Another of Joly’s lieutenants, Logan’s meetings in January had a space bent, with communications including MDA Space, Telecast and Canada’s Space Innovators.
Got any thoughts on what information you’d like to see in these reports, or on lobbying in general? Let me know in the comments below.
I was looking at the registry data for AltaGas today. Logging 10 meetings with the Privy Council Office (basically the brain trust for the Prime Minister) in a single month is staggering. It illustrates how quickly corporations escalate when local infrastructure projects hit a wall. The Metlakatla First Nation pulled their support for the Ridley Island expansion, and suddenly AltaGas is leaning on the highest federal offices. It makes you wonder if local opposition even stands a chance when an energy giant can just call the PMO directly.
Thank you for this public service.