12-Month Lobbying Summary - In-house Organization

Subject Matters

• Aboriginal Affairs
• Agriculture
• Arts and Culture
• Broadcasting
• Budget
• Climate
• Constitutional Issues
• Consumer Issues
• Defence
• Economic Development
• Education
• Employment and Training
• Energy
• Environment
• Financial Institutions
• Fisheries
• Forestry
• Government Procurement
• Health
• Immigration
• Industry
• Infrastructure
• Intellectual Property
• Internal Trade
• International Development
• International Relations
• International Trade
• Justice and Law Enforcement
• Labour
• Mining
• National Security/Security
• Pensions
• Privacy and Access to Information
• Regional Development
• Science and Technology
• Small Business
• Sports
• Taxation and Finance
• Telecommunications
• Tourism
• Transportation

Subject Matter Details

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• AGRICULTURE - Promoting policies to enhance the domestic and international competitiveness of Canada's agriculture sector.
• Aboriginal Affairs - With respect to federal government policies to improve the economic potential and contribution of Canada's Aboriginal peoples as well as providing more clarity regarding the role of business in the duty to consult and reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples.
• Environment - Canadian Energy Regulator with respect to regulations and implementation
• Taxation and Finance - Responding to proposals to address taxation of digital services.

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program

• Energy – Energy- Support policies to ensure the diversification of Canada’s trade in energy products to world markets, especially pipelines and related major infrastructure projects; and continue engagement with the Government legislation, Bill C-69 to overhaul to Canada’s environmental assessment processes and create an Impact Assessment Agency.

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program, Regulation

• Aboriginal Affairs - Economic capacity building for Indigenous peoples and businesses including access to affordable capital; developing a pan-Canadian duty to consult and accommodate framework that recognizes the different approaches to engagement, consultation, accommodation each community and project requires; allowing First Nations to extricate themselves from one or more aspects of the Indian Act via a Band Council resolution and the demonstrated support of a clear majority of band members; clarifying the impact on business of the recognition and implementation of Indigenous rights in Canadian laws, policies and regulations; developing educational materials on the histories of Indigenous peoples as outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call-to-Action 92
• Cannabis – support for policies that will improve the growth and competitiveness of the regulated cannabis sector while helping governments achieve their health and safety objectives.

Policies or Program

• CLIMATE - with regard to international negotiations, Clean Energy Dialogue with U.S., federal climate change policy, North American clean energy and environment agreement.
• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - With regard to the measures the federal government needs to take to encourage private sector generated economic development in Canada’s territories and all remote communities and the development of the services sector both domestically and internationally.
• EDUCATION - Aligning employer and workforce needs with education and training; Expanding Work Integrated Learning Opportunities
• Economic Development - with regard to the development of the services sector both domestically and internationally.
• Employment Insurance Reform - Conducting a comprehensive review of the EI program; Reducing the regulatory burden for employers; Equalizing premium rates between employer and employee contributions; Phasing out EI funding to programs that are not core to the mandate
• Employment/Training - Committing to life-long learning, upskilling and reskilling; Supporting Small and Medium Sized Enterprises; Improving collection and dissemination of Labour Marketing Information
• Environment – Harmonization of regulations with provinces, federal carbon pricing legislation, Pan-Canadian Framework for Clean Growth and Climate Change, and Review of Canada's environmental assessment process.
• Government Procurement - Creating more opportunities for Canadian SMEs, Indigenous, female and other under-represented entrepreneurs to have more opportunities to learn about and compete for federal procurement opportunities and become suppliers to the federal government. Advocating the federal government consider set-asides for these businesses that equal their representation in the broader business community and/or population of Canada. Promoting innovative busines in Canada through procurement policy. With regard to the Integrity Framework, ensure it is as focused on not penalizing suppliers that should not be punished as on those who should.
• HEALTH - With regard to federal measures to assist Canadian businesses cope with and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
• IMMIGRATION: Reducing regulatory burdens for employers; Promoting immigration to smaller, rural and northern communities; Supporting regional and community immigration strategies; Modernizing the Temporary Foreign Workers Program; Facilitating pathways to permanent residency for temporary residents (international students and temporary foreign workers); Expediting Foreign Credential Recognition; Improving language training and supports; Improving the Start-up Visa process; Improving client services to potential immigrants and new Canadians
• INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - Strengthened legislation to better protect. Make counterfeiting and piracy criminal offences under the Criminal Code; Trademark counterfeiting a specific criminal offence under the Trade-Marks Act; and impose stronger penalties for counterfeiting and piracy that endangers the health and safety of Canadians. Investigate the possibility of a Canadian form of a patent or innovation box to enhance the development and commercialization of intellectual property, including patents. The creation of a national intellectual property enforcement center.
• INTERNAL TRADE - removing interprovincial barriers to trade, investment, and labour mobility within Canada
• INTERNATIONAL TRADE - Promote balanced bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade agreements for Canadian businesses.
• INTERNATIONAL TRADE - with respect to federal laws and regulations pertaining to responsible business conduct of Canadian companies.
• Infrastructure: In regard to the development of a national infrastructure plan, priority infrastructure projects, border infrastructure, public private partnerships, funding models and government consultations.
• International Trade - border infrastructure and CBSA programs/policies affecting importers and exporters.
• International Trade - promote liberalization of trade in services.
• International Trade - seek more active engagement of Canada's businesses in existing agreements.
• International Trade: Expanding trade and investment links with Canada trading partners.
• Labour: Ensuring that any changes to the Canada Labour Code are implemented in response to defined and demonstrated issues and not to increase regulatory burdens for employers.
• Labour: Asking the federal government, specifically Global Affairs Canada, to work with the Canadian private sector to identify ways to increase long-term formal employment opportunities for the poor in developing countries, and facilitate the availability of financial institutional products and services, including microfinance, to stimulate job creation for the poor
• Natural Resources: support for the adoption of policy recommendations to strengthen Canada’s world-leading position in the mining industry
• PRIVACY AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION - with regard to the provisions of PIPEDA, to ensure business has clear compliance objectives, that the government of Canada ensures continued freedom to operate and innovate in the digital environment. Responding to National Consultations on Digital and Data Transformation.
• Pensions: With regard to providing additional retirement savings options to Canadians that do not impose additional costs and/or administrative burdens on employers.
• SPENDING CONTROL - Undertake a thorough review of all government spending costs and establish a long-term plan to achieve a balanced budget by limiting operations expenditure growth
• Small Business - Effectively communicating federal support programs via channels small and medium businesses (SMEs) use; assisting SMEs to easily identify free trade agreement opportunities; providing SMEs with digital/searchable access to in-country legal and regulatory expertise.
• Small Business - Reducing red tape and the compliance burden and encouraging effective fiscal and economic policy measures to improve the business climate for SMEs, including more opportunities for Canadian SMEs to become suppliers to the federal government
• TAX/DEBT REDUCTION - Ensure the federal debt-to-Gross Domestic Product target falls to below 30% by 2015 - Federal Budget Taxation and Finance
• TRANSPORTATION - in regards to the development of a National Transportation Strategy and a National Infrastructure Plan
• TRANSPORTATION - in regards to the development of a competitive and efficient transportation network including all modes of transportation
• Taxation and Finance - Appoint a Royal Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of taxation guided by the principles of competitiveness, simplicity, fairness, and neutrality; broaden the tax base; adjust the tax mix; bridge the digital tax divide; simplify the tax filing experience; legislate a taxpayer charter of rights; provide a representative for small businesses to resolve conflicts with Canada Revenue Agency; and conduct regular comprehensive reviews.
• Taxation and Finance - Investigate the possibility of a Canadian form of a patent or innovation box tailored to provide a preferential corporate tax regime for profits arising from patents/innovation
• Telecommunications. With regard to telecommunications policies that are focused on creating the right investment incentives to foster vibrant competition in the sector as a whole and not favour certain companies.
• The importance of both durable and technical skills.

Policies or Program, Regulation

• Environment - with respect to advocacy for environmental and energy policy on the energy inputs for the mining of cryptocurrencies within Canadian jurisdictions and coordination with established Canadian utilities
• INDUSTRY - Stimulate R&D in the pharmaceutical industry by extending data protection and implementing a five-year patent restoration system. Improving the SR&ED tax credit program to drive innovation by restoring it to 20% and reinstating the Depreciable Property Tax Credit. Pushing the government to continue to encourage small and medium sized businesses to do more online. Investigate the possibility of a preferential corporate tax regime for profits arising from patents/innovation to encourage companies to base their R&D activities in Canada and to commercialize them in Canada. A digital economy strategy for Canada, with respect to more of an emphasis being placed on the digital economy by the government. A balanced strategy for Canada. Changes to Canada’s Anti-spam legislation that reduce the regulatory burden and eliminate ambiguities in the legislation.
• INDUSTRY - With regard to federal measures to assist Canadian businesses cope with and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
• INTERNATIONAL TRADE – COVID-19 Supply chain and market access issues affecting Canadian companies.
• INTERNATIONAL TRADE – with respect to issues relating to import and export controls
• Small Business – Legislation, regulations and support programs that give Canadian SMEs the tools to grow in Canada and internationally including more opportunities to learn about and compete for federal procurement opportunities.
• Taxation and Finance - with regard to modernizing our financial systems to manage with the remittance of digital assets, cryptocurrencies and digital currencies

Regulation

• Telecommunications - Responding to decisions regarding third-party access that will impact the deployment of internet services in rural and remote communities.
• Telecommunications - Responding to regulatory proposals re: cell phone pricing

• Subject matter details in previous versions

  Policies or Program

  • INTERNATIONAL TRADE - Promote balanced free trade agreements for Canada with key partners.
  • International Trade - Beyond the Borders Initiative, with respect to implementation of the action plan items.
  • International Trade - with respect to the development of a new International Crossing between Windsor and Detroit.