Rogers, Bell add junk food bill concerns to lobby efforts

Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. have registered to lobby the government on proposed Senate legislation, now moving through the House, to quell the impact of junk food advertising on children, joining critics who lobbied heavily in March about the bill they say will significantly affect the health of traditional TV. Both Rogers and Bell sided with concerns outlined by broadcaster Corus Entertainment Inc. about Bill S-228, otherwise known as the Child Health Protection Act, that looks to dramatically reduce junk food advertising to children in order to help resolve the obesity crisis. The addition of the bill in Rogers’ registration occurred on March 15 and on April 13 for Bell. Corus has had the issue on its lobby files for over a year, after the legislation was brought before the Senate in September 2016. Last week, the bill was introduced to the House standing committee on health following second reading in the lower chamber. The bill looks to reduce childhood obesity by banning the advertising of “unhealthy” foods and beverages to children, defined in the current iteration of the bill, as passed by the Senate, to be those under 17 years old. Bill supporters have promised to bring that threshold down to age 13, though the definition of what is unhealthy is still left to be determined. Among some of the reforms requested in the proposed legislation, Ronald Lund, president and CEO of the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), told the committee on health that he would like to see “unhealthy” replaced with “foods high in,” for example, saturated fats. “We do, in fact, support the government’s objective of reducing childhood obesity,” Lund said to committee Monday. “We ask, however, that such strategies and measures be implemented without the unnecessary regulatory overreach and economic harm from the inadvertent prohibition of the lawful and constitutional right to market foods and beverages to adults.” Lund’s concerns stem from a combination of the bill's provisions and a Health Canada report from December that recommended a ban on “unhealthy” food and beverage ads from between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3 and 9 p.m. on weekdays and between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends. He says that time slot would effectively ban such advertising for adults, which could see a constitutional challenge by advertisers. Lund said his organization commissioned an economic analysis that found the impacts of restrictions on food and beverage advertising would shred Canadian advertising revenues by between $860 million to $1.1 billion per year, including $300 million to the “already ailing” broadcast industry. As such, March saw a flurry of activity related to the legislation, which was a subject matter in no less than 15 communications with government officials. The ACA led all of those players in volume of activity with nine communications, followed by Corus with four and two for the National Hockey League (NHL), which has been lobbying on the issue since November. The ACA has been lobbying the government on related matters, including supporting the current regulatory system governing advertising to children, since 2009, according to lobby records. It says on its website that it “played a key role” in establishing the Advertising Standards of Canada and promotes self-regulation for the marketing industry. It also promotes its lobbying efforts on the website. Among the recommendations suggested to committee, Lund said that digital ads should be required to go through preclearance review before running — with digital advertisers having to file activity annually — and that a regulatory framework be set up and managed by the Ad Standards, in partnership with Health Canada, to investigate and publish annual non-compliance reports. The ACA filed a total of nine communications in the month, six under Garner Public Affairs consultant Gordon Garner and three under Lund. Both Lund and Garner communicated on March 20 on the matter with Bill Casey, chair of the health committee, and his chief of staff Joel Henderson prior to hearing testimony. The rest of its communications were made with figures including Heritage senior assistant deputy minister Jean Stéphen Piché and Health Canada policy advisor Travis Gordon. Corus’ four communications came under head Doug Murphy with members of parliament on either side of the bill. He communicated with Benjamin Martin, the assistant to shadow minister of health and Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, who opposed the bill during debates as one that would be unlikely to reduce obesity. He also communicated with Liberal MP Ron McKinnon, who supported the bill in debates, as well as chair of the heritage committee, Liberal MP Julie Dabrusin and net neutrality advocate, MP John Oliver. William Pristanski of Prospectus Associates communicated on the matter on behalf of the NHL with Conservative MP Ben Lobb and Gladu’s assistant Benjamin Martin. Sticking with the broadcasting front, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting lobbied government officials with 10 communications in the month ahead of a discussion with Parliamentarians, held Tuesday, about the “media crisis” and the possible amendment to the Income Tax Act (ITA) about the “deductibility of digital advertising” on foreign platforms. Five communications were made under incoming executive director Daniel Bernhard with Mushroom Cloud Ltd., three under media spokesman Jim Thompson of J. Thompson Communications Inc., and two under former executive director Ian Morrison of Coalescence Inc. The communications were with officials in the privy council office (PCO), senators Art Eggleton and David Tkachuk, and members of parliament Adam Vaughan and Andy Fillmore, who is parliamentary secretary to Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould. Rogers led the telecoms with 10 communications under head Joe Natale with public figures including Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, members of parliament including Matt Jeneroux and members of Public Safety Canada, with communications also including Copyright Act reform. Bell filed eight communications, six under head George Cope and two under Ensight Canada consultant Laura D’Angelo, with officials from ISED including director of policy David McFarlane and deputy minister John Knubley and Heritage chief of staff Leslie Church. Subject matter of communications included upcoming reviews of legislation like the Copyright and Broadcasting Acts. Telus Corp. itself filed five communications under president and CEO Darren Entwistle with ISED’s McFarlane, policy advisor Maxime Dea and senior advisor Elder Marques in the Prime Minister’s office, and MP Dabrusin. Earnscliffe Strategy Group’s Elly Alboim, on behalf of Shaw Communications Inc., had one communication with ISED chief of staff Gianluca Cairo, on subjects including public safety legislation and the aforementioned legislative reviews. And Xplornet Communications Inc. filed five communications, three under head Allison Lenehan and one each under consultant Eric Lamoureux of Conseillers Affaires Publiques Inc. and Noah Niznick of Public Affairs Advisors Inc. Officials communicated with include CRTC’s chairman Ian Scott and executive director Chris Seidl and MPs Francis Drouin and Bruce Stanton on matters relating to rural broadband. Overall, there were 30 communications in broadcasting, down slightly from 34 in February and 37 in telecommunications, fewer than the 58 reported in February. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Rogers, Bell add junk food bill concerns to lobby efforts

Broadcast | April 25, 2018

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Rogers, Bell add junk food bill concerns to lobby efforts

Broadcast | April 25, 2018

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

Tories dissent Heritage Committee report on tech giants’ intimidation

Quebecor acquires advertising business, expands ad reach in Canada

Federal arbitrator releases paid time political broadcast schedule

Stingray, Rogers bolstering FAST channel options

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us