My good friend Kady is the first to find treasure in what will surely be a goldmine of interesting story leads: A new database from our federal Registry of Lobbyists which is now listing what lobbyist met with whom when. I, like most of my colleagues here in Ottawa, had known about this database and had been checking in from the date it first launched back on July 1. But it is only now that juicy bits have been discovered by Kady (who, I should note, has a long and glorious history of poking around in the lobbyist database).
Here's the first: Jayson Myers, the president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), had a meeting on July 3, two days after the new reporting requirement kicked in, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his Public Works Minister Christian Paradis, and International Trade Minister Michael Fortier. They talked about trade with France and why wouldn't they? Harper, no doubt, chatted with French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the G-8 last month and will be hosting Sarkozy at least two events this this fall, including at the meeting of La Francophonie in October. ('Course, that's assuming there isn't a federal election in the meantime and a guy named Dion is PM).
I describe this new database as a treasure chest because it gives reporters a neat peak inside the world of lobbying that we otherwise did not have. That said, I'm not sure a lot of us know exactly how this will all help — though we're pleased as punch to have the chance to try it out.
On the other hand, this can't but help burnish the reputation of Jay Myers and/or his organization, the CME. ('Course, they both should already have a pretty good reputation because both Jay and the CME do some pretty good work representing their members). I met Jay shortly after my arrival here in Ottawa. He was working then at the CME but his position then was chief economist. Perrin Beatty, now heading up the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, was Jay's boss. Turns out both Perrin and Jay are from Fergus, Ont., which is 20 minutes down Highway 6 from where I grew up in Guelph.
Jay has often been a terrific on-the-record source for many of my stories about the federal budget and economic and trade policy.
But a big part of Jay's job, as it was with Perrin before him, is membership relations. Individual companies pay a fee to belong to his organization — they have more than a few thousand members who, collectively, account for 90 per cent of Canada's exports and 75 per cent of Canada's manufacturing capacity — and at annual or regional conferences, Jay will spend a lot of time making sure that members understand the value they're getting by staying signed up with his organization.
Now normally, Jay — like most lobbyists — would be reluctant to publicize the fact that you meet the PM, the very top guy. But now that it's out there in the database, what lobbyist wouldn't want to broadcast that fact to help with clients and members?
Punch in “Harper” into the database and, at this point, just two entries pop up. There was the meeting Myers had on July 3 and, then later in the month, Harper took a meeting with one Basil “Buzz” Hargrove, everyone's favourite rabble-rousing labour leader. Buzz and Harper met, the lobbyists registry says, to talk about “aboriginal affairs”. Note to self: Next time you talk to Buzz, ask him why, with the auto industry crumbling about us, he chose to talk to the prime minister about aboriginal affairs rather than those dastardly foreign imports that are ruining it for Ford, Chrysler and GM.
Let me single out another couple of nuggets that Kady: Turns out some CEOs of some of Canada's biggest energy-related companies got some facetime with PMO types in early July. Harold Kvisle, the top dog at Trans-Canada Pipelines was in to see Mark Cameron, who was then Harper's top policy guy. PetroCanada's CEO Ron Brenneman popped by to see Bruce Carson, a top Harper advisor (and, as we learned today, the new executive director of an environment and energy think tank).