Confessions of “useless and overpaid lobbyists”
“If you do have a policy proposal, don’t tell me about it. Convince Canadians.” — Pierre Poilievre Conservative Party of Canada Leader*
Canada’s national opposition leader and potentially the next Prime Minister of Canada has stirred a long overdue debate in the government relations field with his recent high profile attacks on lobbyists in Canada. It has been a lot of fun watching this unfold. And the fact is the guy is right - about most of it anyway.
Mr. Poilievre appears to be saying that the major public interest groups intended to represent Canadians’ diverse perspectives such as business, workers, professionals and citizens are not getting the job done. The major lobbying groups in Ottawa — and across every jurisdiction in the country — have been captured by the systems and processes they are supposed to influence. The Conservative leader pulls no punches on “government relations flacks.” He questions the loyalty of these professional lobbyists as well as the CEOs that “know nothing about politics” and allow this to happen.
While it is always fun to trash lobbyists the essence of the issue is his last comment about CEOs. This could really be extrapolated to executives, boards, shareholders, and members or all groups in Canada. The problem isn’t so much lobbyists as it is organizations that expect lobbyist to solve their problems for them based on a simplistic and hostile understanding of how government actually works in Canada.
I started working as a government relations consultant in Victoria, BC. in the summer of 1986. I was lucky enough to get started straight out of university and unlike most other government affairs professionals I have never worked inside government or for a political party. All my experience has been helping private sector clients manage their way through the labyrinth of the various governments I have dealt with for over 30 years. While this may appear to be a hindrance, in some ways, my lack of political access made me a better government relations consultant because it gave me the freedom to explain to clients that there is no quick fix with a call in to a political friend in the minister’s office.
Organizations can be their own best advocates provided they enjoy an up-to-date understanding of the system and knowledge about the people and institutions in it. This approach to government relations is contrary to the prevalent “friends and insiders” perception of lobbying.
Over the years of watching clients come and go I learned that there was a pattern to success and failure. Groups that were better prepared fared much better when making requests to the government. Those who came late to the policy discussion or who were just reacting to government proposals tended to have an uphill battle to make any significant progress. The best advocates came prepared for a serious policy discussion. They understood the government's objectives. They had data, brought solutions, had an understanding of what was possible, who could do what, and knew precisely what they wanted from the government. This never guaranteed success, but it gave these organizations the best chance to represent their members' interests. They also could ensure policymakers knew the implications of the laws they were making.
Organizations that came seeking a quick fix were going to be trouble. I once was invited by another consultant to play golf with a busy cabinet minister and senior representatives of a Fortune 500 technology firm interested in a major project that had yet to be released for bids. After the golf, both the minister and client said to me privately, "well, that was nice, but the whole thing is in the hands of the bureaucrats anyway, so what was the point?”
In another instance, a client’s massive, half finished resource project was about to be killed by the government of the day for political reasons. The political access they were able to get through some government allied consultants didn’t stop the decision, but the client did get the courtesy of being told the bad news in advance.
It would be naive to argue, of course, that political insiders don’t have special access to their friends in power. This happens and will always be the case when organizations are willing to hire firms based on their consultant’s experience as elected members, party workers, or even former senior public servants. These people do have specialised knowledge and perceptions that can help an organization move its agenda forward. Often, insiders are in a position to quickly arrange meetings with staff or cabinet ministers to help raise their client’s issues. This does help, but ultimately, there is no escaping the demands of the policy making system itself. Even a premier or prime minister is going to be hindered from helping a political friend if it goes against the requirements of the broader public policy system. It's just as likely that a politician will ask their friends to “take one for the team” in order to help the greater political cause or stifle perceptions of favoritism that might occur if the decision was to help that friend.
To Mr. Poilievre’s point rather than access or influence being the core of government relations, time is the true commodity for success in affecting government decisions. Direct lobbying simply attempts to compress everything into a short, critical time frame, usually at the end of the policy development process, often after key decisions are made. Whereas complex government relations advocacy seeks to extend the time frame of weeks, months, or years to influence the context and upstream direction. Dealing effectively with government is much more than just direct lobbying. Lobbying is late in the process, short term and often highly political. Advocacy is long term, non partisan and runs through the entire process, and can ultimately include direct lobbying, but it takes a systemic view of the policy system.
*(Pierre Poilievre: Memo to Corporate Canada - Fire Your Lobbyist. Ignore Politicians. Go to the People, 2024) https://nationalpost.com/opinion/pierre-poilievre-corporate-lobbyists-keep-sucking-up-to-high-tax-anti-resource-liberals
