Newly freed senators attract lobbyist buzz
Reflects new role of chamber, observers say
With the increase in the number of independent Senators, lobbying of the upper chamber has increased significantly — and, observers say, that’s a trend that’s likely to continue.
Lobbyists registered more meetings with senators and Senate staffers in 2016 than in any other year on record, a threefold increase from 2015 and well above typical margins under the majority Conservative government.
Last year, 687 communications between lobbyists and senators were registered with the office of the federal lobbying commissioner. That compares to 217 in 2015 — a low number that is partly explained by a long election campaign — and an average of about 450 over the four previous years. Another 76 communications have taken place since the holiday break.
In the past 12 months, 27 new senators were appointed to the red chamber on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s advice. Seven joined the Senate in March 2016, and another 20 in the fall. Aside from Peter Harder, who serves as the Liberal government’s representative in the Senate, none is affiliated with a political party.
While the new senators have largely voted with the government on legislation, there’s no one whipping them to do so, and they’ve been encouraged to take seriously the Senate’s mandate to provide “sober second thought.”
As a result, sources inside the Senate say, not only are government ministers lobbying individual senators more than they would have in the past, so too are actual lobbyists.
“This is the new normal,” Says Yaroslav Baran, a principal with Earnscliffe Strategy Group, as the Liberal Senate reforms take hold and the chamber continues “on its way to becoming a chamber of free agents.”
“(The increase in lobbying) doesn’t surprise me one bit. I think it’s a reflection of the new role that the Senate plays in the new equilibrium of how parliament functions,” he said.
“The more points of independent decision-making you have in the system, the more touch points there are when you’re making representations on behalf of your issue and your industry.”
Although the newly-empowered Senate could choose to defeat a government bill, that hasn’t yet happened. One government lobbyist, however, told the Post that senators may be lobbied to do so.
“It’s a useful avenue for introducing amendments and delaying bills that might be coming from the House,” said the lobbyist. “Independent senators present their own opportunity because there’s no traditional allegiances there, so they can kind of work on their own.”
Another lobbyist told the Post that senators have become more open to amending legislation. In the past, lobbyists would sometimes target senior senators who had the ear of cabinet. Since the Senate’s Liberals no longer caucus with Liberal MPs, however, that avenue is no longer open.
One recent target of lobbying has been S-5, a government bill introduced in the Senate. The bill, currently at second reading, would standardize tobacco packaging and create new regulations around vaping.
Senators, including the bill’s independent sponsor, Chantal Petitclerc, have been lobbied by Imperial Tobacco on one hand and the Heart and Stroke Foundation on the other.
“We’re looking at the Senate’s strategic leadership on certain issues like tobacco packaging,” said Meghan Spilka O’Keefe, the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s senior manager of government relations and a former consultant for Hill + Knowlton, adding her team is finding “opportunity” and “energy” in senators who care about health issues.
Health care is the subject on which senators are most frequently lobbied, accounting for more than 200 meetings in the last year.
The next-most-popular topic was transportation, with 90 meetings disclosed, followed by education (81), justice and law enforcement (69), budget (60), taxation and finance (57) and economic development (57).