Champagne most lobbied minister in Canadian government, survey finds

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne was the most-lobbied minister in cabinet last year, a survey has discovered. Reporters for the Wire Report’s affiliated publications The HIll Times and The Lobby Monitor conducted an in-depth look at the lobbying industry in Ottawa. There were 283 communications with Champagne’s office last year, Jesse Cnockaert and Stephen Jeffery found. His department, Industry, Science, and Economic Development (ISED), was the second-most lobbied, after the House of Commons. There were 3,118 communications with ISED in 2022. Canadian Heritage placed 10th on the list, having 1,060 communications. Minister Pablo Rodriguez was the 12th most-lobbied minister with 79 contacts. Several aides to the ministers also made the list of the most-lobbied office holders. Kevin Deagle, senior policy advisor to Champagne, was fourth on that roster, with 255 contacts. Another senior policy advisor to the minister, Peter Opdam, was fifth with 231 communications. Policy advisor Bianca Hossain was ninth with 211 communications while tenth spot went to senior policy advisor Anson Duran with 208 contacts. Jaxson Khan, policy advisor was in 16th spot with 170 contacts and Champagne’s chief of staff Ian Foucher had 165 communications to land in 18th place. Two staffers for Rodriguez also showed up on the list. Senior policy advisor Brian MacKay was in 11th spot with 208 communications and policy advisor Matthew Gray had 187 contacts to land in 13th place. Of the top 20 most-discussed issues of 2022, science and technology came in eighth with 2,845 communications and broadcasting was in 19th spot with 1,037 communications. Cnockaert and Jeffery also polled lobbyists for a roster of the top 100 in the field. The list was alphabetical rather than ranked. Among those making the cut were Hardave Birk of Shaw Communications Inc., Netflix Inc.'s Stéphane Cardin, Paul Deegan of News Media Canada, BCE Inc.’s Simon Dwyer, Cheryl Fougere of Rogers Communications Inc., Robert Ghiz of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Telus Corp.’s Jacob Glick, Shaw’s Chima Nkemdirim, Wendy Noss of the Motion Picture Association-Canada and Matt Thompson of Corus Entertainment Inc. Some of the lobbyists who are outside consultants to telecom companies and broadcasters also made the list, including Ashton Arsenault of Crestview Strategies, Jacquie LaRocque from Compass Rose Group and David Pratt of David Pratt and Associates.

Champagne most lobbied minister in Canadian government, survey finds

Brief | March 22, 2023

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Champagne most lobbied minister in Canadian government, survey finds

Brief | March 22, 2023

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