Hired Guns on the Hustings

Corporate lobbyists deeply involved in backing election candidates, mostly Liberals

By Aaron Freeman

  For once, it's actually hard to find a lobbyist in Ottawa. Calls to the leading lobby firms reveal that just about all them have taken time off to get their favorite candidate or party elected.
  Most are helping out the Liberals. Michael Robinson, at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, negotiated the rules for the leaders debates and helped prepare Mr. Chretien for them. Hill & Knowlton's David Miller is helping organize the Liberals leader's tour. And the Capital Hill Group's Kim Doran is helping out the party in eastern Ontario.
 

Many former politicians who are defeated in elections go on to earn far more as corporate lobbyists

  A few former MPs-turned-lobbyists are also active. Paul Zed, who teamed up with fellow Liberal Doug Young to form Summa Strategies after they were both defeated in 1997, is running again in St. John, NB. Another former MP-turned-lobbyist, Patrick Gagnon, is not running, but he is helping out candidates in his former stomping grounds in eastern Quebec. He says his role includes providing "advice on how to spin [the issues] and how to pinpoint weaknesses in the other parties."
  With the exception of Paul Zed, none of these consultants have de-listed themselves as active lobbyists representing clients' concerns with the government.
  Lobbyists are, almost by definition, political animals. Most were in government before they landed softly in the industry, and many maintain party ties. So it's not surprising that they are on the hustings at election time. The fact that many of the people they are lobbying are either on the campaign trail or in a holding pattern until after the election also makes their writ-period workload lighter, allowing them more time to work on the campaign.
 

Lobbyists used to try to influence politicians. Now they are key to finance and execute their election campaigns

  Given the behind-the-scenes roles lobbyists usually play, it is difficult to determine how involved industry players are in the election. But the growth of the lobbying industry under the Liberals - more than doubling in size over the past seven years - mean that the number of lobbyists active in the campaigns is likely more than ever before.
  Lobbyists are also becoming more financially involved in the election effort. This was highlighted earlier this year when it was revealed that former MP Barry Campbell, a lobbyist with APCO who represents financial institutions, organized a major fundraising dinner for Jim Peterson, the secretary of state for financial institutions.
  At the party level, contributions from lobbying, public relations and polling firms have steadily risen from $49,000 in 1995 to $290,000 in 1999. To take a few examples, Association House gave $18,847 to the Liberals last year, Global Public Affairs gave $16,881, and the Capital Hill Group gave $25,015. (Donations made before the election this year will not be disclosed until July of next year. Election-period donations will be disclosed four months after election day for parties, and six months after election day for candidates.)
  Election involvement is part of a growing trend that has seen lobbyists becoming more integral to the political process. The increased complexity of government regulatory processes explain part of this phenomenon. But a greater force driving this process is the scaling back of government services. Lobbyists often represent clients eager to cash in on privatization contracts, and they are also frequently given contracts to carry out activities that were once undertaken by the government. For example, in January 1998, Marc Lalonde, a Trudeau-era cabinet minister who now lobbies for various clients including tobacco, recording and telephone companies, was appointed as the Prime Minister's special envoy in mediating a dispute with Brazil over aircraft exports from Montreal-based Bombardier. In February 1998, when the federal government needed guidelines for selecting information technologies, it hired a lobbyist named Ray Hession, who also lobbies for several IT firms, to help establish the criteria.
  And last year, the federal government hired Nick Mulder, a former deputy minister of environment, to chair an environmental assessment panel examining a highway project in Hamilton. While he chaired the panel, Mulder was registered to lobby the Environment Canada and the Canadian Environmental Assessment agency on behalf of several clients, although he claimed that he did not in fact lobby these agencies on environmental issues.
  With lobbyists playing these quasi-governmental roles, those working for candidates may have more opportunities to cash in on their connections once those candidates are elected.
  When Parliament resumes, the Industry Committee will begin its review of the Lobbyists Registration Act. The committee should consider drawing clear lines between lobbying and government to avoid conflicts of interest. If a lobbyist is working on a candidate's campaign, this should be publicly disclosed, and a lobbyist should not be allowed to lobby MPs or ministers whom he or she helped elect.
  These reasonable restrictions would help ensure that the public interest does not lose out to the interests of hired-gun lobbyists and their clients once the campaign is over and governing begins.

Aaron Freeman is an Ottawa-based writer and a columnist with the Hill Times, Canada's parliamentary newspaper. He can be reached at freeman@essential.org

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