Iristel, EBox, DHX among new lobby registrations

The start of the new year was marked by new registrations for new and not-so-new companies and groups in the federal lobbyists’ registry. Iristel Inc. registered to lobby the federal government as of Jan. 13 with consultant Eric Rothschild, who, according to the registry filing “will discuss with CRTC staff & Commissioners and staff at Innovation, Science and Economic Development potential funding available for telecommunications infrastructure.” Rothschild will also be speaking to the CRTC about “telecommunications services and policy affecting primarily remote & rural areas especially the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut. Among other things, I expect to discuss the possibility of applying for CRTC funding for the construction of broadband infrastructure,” the registry filing said. Iristel’s registration marks the first time the company had registered to lobby since its subsidiary Ice Wireless signed up between November 2014 and June 2015 with consultants John McHughan and Timothy Powers. At the time, their goal was to “raise Ice Wireless' profile in Ottawa to highlight the company's role, value and impact as it relates to the government's mobile telecommunications strategy, Industry Canada and the Connecting Canadians program,” the registry filings said. ADR.TV (Avis de recherche), a speciality TV channel that provides bulletins on missing people and suspects at large, also made a return to the federal registry, activating a new registration on Feb. 2 with consultant — and former CRTC commissioner — Michel Morin. The French filing said that Morin would be communicating with the House of Commons and Public Safety Canada about a mobile phone application to find wanted persons and other public safety issues. Avis de recherche was previously registered to lobby between October 2015 and February 2016 with consultant Simon-Pierre Diamond about channels and frequencies it used and again between September and November 2013 with consultant Craig Jangula, asking the CRTC and the federal cabinet to reconsider a decision to deny its application for mandatory carriage. And while the First Mile Connectivity Consortium’s Feb. 21 registration is technically brand new, the issues will be familiar to those with whom newly registered consultant Ben Klass will be communicating. Under Klass, the consortium will be speaking to the CRTC and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada about “development of administrative governance structure for the rural, remote, and Northern broadband fund established by follow-up processes resulting” from the regulator’s December basic service decision establishing a new $750-million fund for high-speed Internet deployment, the registration said. The First Mile Connectivity Consortium was created in 2013, according to its website, but one of the originating research partners — the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations council — has already been making representations to the government. Keewaytinook Okimakanak has been registered to lobby with consultant David Angus from The Capital Hill Group as of March 2009 about the First Nations Infrastructure Fund regarding “the construction of an all-weather road and fiber optic network in Northern Ontario” as well as First Nations, Inuit and Aboriginal health “as it relates to e-health funding for connectivity and telemedicine,” the registration said. Other new registrations for 2017 include DHX Media Ltd., which registered on Jan. 24 with consultant Joel Fortune. Its registry filing said it will be communicating with Canadian Heritage about the Excise Tax Act regarding non-Canadian services, the Income Tax Act “with respect to tax credits relating to the production of Canadian programming,” and broadcasting distribution regulations, specifically “the distribution of independent broadcasting services.” Independent Internet service provider (ISP) EBox Inc. also registered to lobby the CRTC on broadcasting issues as of Feb. 6 with former regional commissioner for Quebec Suzanne Lamarre. In May 2015, the CRTC approved a regional broadcasting licence for EBox to operate “terrestrial BDUs to serve Montréal, Québec, Sherbrooke, Gatineau, Trois-Rivières, Saguenay and their surrounding areas, Quebec,” according to the decision on the CRTC’s website. Among the issues on which Lamarre will communicate include 2015 CRTC policies about dispute resolution and BDUs serving fewer than 20,000 subscribers, the registration said. Looking at January numbers, the Canadian Media Producers Association, by virtue of its lobby day and Prime Time in Ottawa conference, led the field with 22 monthly communication reports. The CMPA communicated with more than a dozen MPs, the Speaker of the House Geoff Regan, and senior policy advisors. Amazon.com Inc. filed five monthly communication reports in January, meeting with Heritage, ISED and Global Affairs. Three was the magic number for BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Shaw Communications Inc., all filing a trifecta of communications reports in January that included Justin To, deputy director of policy at the Prime Minister’s Office. Broadcasting was 16th most-lobbied subject in January, with 61 communication reports filed (up 454.5 per cent from December), while telecom sat in 31st place with 23 communication reports filed on the topic (down 46.5 per cent from the 43 reports in December). — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Iristel, EBox, DHX among new lobby registrations

News | February 21, 2017

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Iristel, EBox, DHX among new lobby registrations

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