CCSA leads lobbying after Hill visit

Last month’s deluge of Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) members on Parliament Hill for the group’s third annual lobby day pushed the organization to the top of the telecom lobbying list for the second month this year, logging 49 communication reports in May. CCSA’s May efforts also meant it was ranked second for lobbying activity out of all groups registered to communicate with the federal government, according to the federal lobbyists’ registry. Representatives from 28 members of the alliance — smaller, independent telecoms — from across the country descended on the Hill on May 9-10, as The Wire Report reported, to bend parliamentarians’ ears on issues such as the Wholesale Code and rural broadband. In March, CCSA logged 15 communication reports with the registry. The 49 reports were split between the registrations for organization president and CEO Jay Thomson (45) and consultant Harris Boyd (four). The May event saw communications with MPs, senators, and policy staff from Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada, Infrastructure Canada, and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Coming behind CCSA was Amazon.com Inc., which filed 11 communication reports through corporation president Brian Huseman’s registration, and another 10 through consultants Joanna Carey and Gordon Hunter, for a total of 21. Amazon reps communicated with people such as Heritage Canada chief of staff Leslie Church, members of Parliament, ISED senior assistant deputy minister Corinne Charette, and the chief information officers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. The lobbyists’ registry noted Amazon communicated about industry, arts and culture, and government procurement. Within the past 30 days, Amazon added four new names to its roster of consultants, bringing its total to 12. Three, from Public Affairs Advisors (James Anderson, Noah Niznick and Latitia Scarr), have registered to “advance public policy considerations and propose legislative amendments with parliamentarians and government officials in respect of the upcoming statutory review of Canada’s Copyright Act.” Sabrina Marques of Hunter Strategies Inc. registered with an eye on helping Amazon land a government contract with “multiple government departments and institutions with regard to Amazon Cloud based solutions and related support services,” according to the registry, which also said she is “seeking to influence policy direction related to cloud based services.” BCE Inc. was next on the list, with 12 communication reports filed with the lobbying commissioner’s office. Bell communicated about telecommunications with ISED staff, including deputy minister John Knubley, assistant deputy minister Eric Dagenais, and policy director David McFarlane. The company also filed reports for communications with PMO deputy policy director Justin To, MPs and Sen. Grant Mitchell. Shaw Communications Inc. also had Dagenais’ ear, filing three communication reports out of its 10 for the month with him, along with discussions with Church, other Heritage staff, MPs and McFarlane. Telus Corp. added three new consultants to lobby on its behalf from Hill and Knowlton Strategies — Elizabeth Rosco, Don Boudria, and Rahmat Kassam, who all registered June 1. The company filed nine communication reports in May — three via consultant Joanna Carey on its health file — for a range of subjects, including telecommunications, infrastructure and aboriginal affairs. The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) also logged eight reports about communication with MPs, Church, and policy staff from Heritage, ISED, Immigration, and Finance Canada, and the PMO. Xplornet Communications Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Canada filed six and five reports, respectively, while the Canadian Network Operators’ Consortium (CNOC) and TekSavvy Solutions Inc. both logged three reports in May. Netflix Inc. also filed three reports between the registrations for CEO Reed Hastings and consultant Leonard St-Aubin, about broadcasting and telecommunications, with people such as Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and Ailish Campbell, the chief trade commissioner and assistant deputy minister at Global Affairs Canada. Quebecor Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. both filed two reports in May. Overall — probably thanks to CCSA’s efforts — telecommunications was the 15th-most lobbied subject in May, cropping up in 111 communications reports, which is a whopping 113.5-per-cent increase from April’s 52 reports. Broadcasting was 23rd on the May subject matter list, noted in 84 reports, up 110 per cent from the 40 reports in April. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CCSA leads lobbying after Hill visit

Broadcast | June 26, 2017

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CCSA leads lobbying after Hill visit

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