WHO ARE the most influential and effective agricultural and food industry lobbyists in Ottawa?
And what makes a good lobbyist? Knowing the political system and its key inside players obviously is a prerequisite as are the ability to be persistent without being grating, the ability to work both sides of the partisan aisle and the ability to get results.
The real test of a good lobbyist is to convince politicians and bureaucrats to support or propose policies that they start off being less than enthused about or opposed.
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So back to the question: who are the most effective among the current crop of lobbyists promoting agriculture and food issues?
Like all list questions, the answer inevitably is subjective, dependent on the opinion, experience and judgment of the answerer.
But the likelihood of error or omission never seems to deter the folks at The Hill Times, an Ottawa-based weekly newspaper that specializes in Parliament Hill coverage.
It loves lists: the sexiest MP, the best dressed, the stingiest, the funniest. On it goes.
Last week, The Hill Times published its list of the “top 100 lobbyists” out of the more than 5,000 registered. The newspaper said it compiled the list in consultation with six “industry experts.”
Some food industry lobbyists made the cut although not always the ones you might expect.
Promoters of renewable fuel were prominent, mainly for the strong lobby over several years to win broad Hill support (the NDP notwithstanding) for the industry.
Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, and Phil von Finckenstein, a former Reform staffer who now lobbies for the CRFA and Iogen Corp., both made the list. For access, it helps that former CRFA executive director Kory Teneycke is the prime minister’s communications director.
Roger Larson, president of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute, is cited as “a leading voice when it comes to food safety inspection legislation, regulations on the transportation of dangerous goods and climate change and agriculture policy.”
Grain Growers of Canada executive director Richard Phillips, once an aide to then Liberal Canadian Wheat Board minister Reg Alcock, makes the list after just a couple of years on the job.
So does Peter Clark, who is registered to lobby for the Canadian Pork Council and Dairy Farmers of Canada among others.
There are some notable and surprising omissions. DFC executive secretary Richard Doyle has been working Parliament Hill for more than three decades and is widely seen as a key player in keeping political support for supply management solid.
Pork council executive secretary Martin Rice also is a well-respected Hill lobbying veteran.
Perhaps most surprising, no one from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture made the cut although it has a visible presence in the capital, at committees, in the halls of the bureaucracy and in MP offices.
However, it may reflect the fact that the country’s largest farm lobby has been going through a rough patch during the past three years of Conservative government. Despite CFA protestations of political neutrality, Conservative MPs and ministers have openly accused the federation of being too close to the Liberals.
For a group looking for access in Stephen Harper’s Ottawa, that cannot be good.
