Canadian Construction Association COO Conference Presentation on Lobbying

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Canadian Construction AssociationCOO Conference
Presentation onLobbying

• Tony Stikeman, President
• TACTIX
• Government Consulting Inc.

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Lobbyingwhat is it?

• Lobbying is part of government life
• Government relies on lobbying for
• Policy direction
• Policy feedback
• Gauge public opinion
• And like most industries, lobbying is regulated
• Federal (Lobbyists Registration Act)
• Provincial (B.C., Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia)
• Municipal (City of Toronto?)

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Federal Lobbying
Business Associations
Government of Canada
Public
NGOs
Cabinet
Special Interests
Parliament
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Who Lobbies?

• Associations
• Private/Public Companies
• Unions
• Non-governmental Organizations
• Governments
• Aboriginal Peoples
• Professions
• Individuals

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Who is Lobbied?

• Executive
• Prime Ministers/Cabinet
• Premiers/Cabinet
• Mayors
• Legislators
• Members of Parliament
• Members of Provincial Legislatures
• Members of City Council
• Administration / bureaucracy

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Evolution of Lobbying Industry

• Not just lunches
• Who you know and who knows you
• Ultra importance of personal relationships
• Growing level of sophistication
• Consulting services
• Policy advice
• Communications services
• Preparation of materials
• Delivery to target audiences
• Aimed at all levels of government

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Lobbying a Minority Parliament

• Power shifts to Legislature
• Votes become important
• Individual MP more influential
• Vote brokering important
• Government cannot rely on single-party majority
  to push through initiatives
• More diffused decision-making
• Ministers/Cabinet
• Parliamentary Committees
• Senior officials
• Greater need for MP outreach

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Minority Parliament
Majority Power Hierarchy
Minority Power Hierarchy
Cabinet
Cabinet
Bureaucracy
Parliamentarians
Parliamentarians
Bureaucracy
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Federal Opportunities for Construction Industry

• Cities Agenda
• Infrastructure key priority (Budget 2004 7
  billion GST exemption over 10 years)
• Transportation
• Transit, roads, highways, bridges
• National Highway Program?
• Environment
• Water and sewer
• Contaminated sites remediation
• Public Works
• Government buildings
• Aboriginal hospitals

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Federal Opportunities for Construction Industry

• Infrastructure promises in campaign 04
• - New Deal 4 5 billion for cities and
  communities (gas tax)
• 1 1.5 billion for assisted housing
• 2 billion p.a. gas tax allocation (5 cpl in 5
  years)
• Existing infrastructure programs
• - Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund
• - Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund
• - Green Municipal Funds
• Budget 2005
• - Employment Insurance Reform
• - Additional funding for Infrastructure
  development

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Provincial Opportunities for Construction Industry

• Private Public Partnerships
• Additional funding for Infrastructure development
• Transportation
• Highways
• Environment
• Water Treatment
• Health care
• Hospitals
• Public Works
• Big city redevelopment

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Municipal

• Power of executive varies
• Mayor can be more than just one vote
• Mayor is Chairman and CEO
• Council is usually fragmented
• Single issue focus
• Local interests dominate
• Generally reactive, followers
• Staff is key
• Bureaucracy is continuous, institutional memory,
  researched
• Tendering process well managed (standing offers)

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Municipal Opportunities for Construction Industry

• Public-Private Partnerships
• Power of unions can dissuade Council
• Infrastructure
• Transportation
• Roads
• Environment
• Sewers
• Water Treatment
• Public Transportation
• Housing, nursing homes, etc.

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Municipal Opportunities for Construction Industry

• Infrastructure Funding
• Push three levels of government
• Allocate funds to capital projects, not operating
  costs or lower taxes
• Entrench notion of capital deficit (FCM estimate
  of 60 billion)
• City of Ottawa example of potential
  infrastructure funding
• GST exemption generates 12
• Federal gas tax allocation (2 cents) 30
• Provincial gas tax allocation (2 cents) 30
• Total annual 72 Million

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Approaching Government

• Top down and Bottom up strategies
• Federal / Provincial
• Executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet)
• Legislators
• Bureaucracy
• Municipal
• Mayors
• Councillors
• Bureaucracy

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Lobbying Techniques

• Grass roots
• - climate change / alternative fuels (wind, fuel
  cells, hydrogen)
• Single constituency hybrid
• - ethanol, insurance
• Single constituency corporate
• - bank mergers
• Business coalitions
• - infrastructure funding, CEPA review,
  telecommunications, Kyoto

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Strategies for Success

• SWOT analysis
• - understanding your assets and liabilities
• Perception audits
• - doing your market research on awareness,
  attitudes and knowledge
• Capturing governments attention
• - what it takes to get government to pay
  attention - and act
• Positioning the industry
• - part of problem or solution? Potential for
  win-win?

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Strategies for Success

• Inserting the construction industry into
  governments agenda
• - becoming part of governments priorities (no
  matter how large or grandiose)
• Coalitions
• - building strength through numbers and shared
  interests
• Execution
• - no substitute for planning, follow through,
  adapting, eye on ball
• Minority Parliaments
• - leveraging Opposition parties and government
  MPs
• Navigating through red tape and regulatory
  quagmires
• - P3 patience, persistence and push