They build relationships, garner trust, anticipate pushback on any given issue and come up with a communications s

1. Message from Hamza.. My friend Hamza who was protesting in Casablanca today (Sunday, March 13, 2011) was asked if he was ok.  He gave this answer... Quick translation:'I am not ok, when I just saw them beat the teeth out of a 13 year old child who was saying 'Peaceful Peaceful until we reach freedom'It's not ok when they stepped with boots on my teacher.It's not ok When they broke my friend Rahims hand.It's not ok when they have been beating me and other people until we could not see anymore.It's not ok when they broke my camera.It's not ok when they slapped people, broke people and made them bleed'. http://mariamsrevolution.blogspot.com/2011/03/sad-message-from-my-friend-hamza.html photo, shortly after the blog entry: http://www.france24.com/en/20110313-dozens-injured-after-police-break-protest-casablanca-reform-democracy A violent confrontation ensued during which a reporter said he witnessed police beating a pregnant woman and some young girls. "It was unusually violent," he said.

2. Along with a $200,000 fundraising pitch to riding associations, on March 3, a staffer in Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's (Calgary Southeast, Alta.) office unintentionally sent to NDP MP Linda Duncan (Edmonton-Strathcona, Alta.) 28 pages of PowerPoint slides outlining the Conservatives' "Ethnic Paid Media Strategy" to build the Conservative brand in cultural communities.

3. They build relationships, garner trust, anticipate pushback on any given issue and come up with a communications strategy, understand the machinery of government, have access to key decision-makers inside government, and are "sensitive to the 'politics' of decision making," say insiders in the Government Relations (GR) industry

4. There are more than 5,000 lobbyists in Canada registered to lobby the federal government. • To make it to the TOP 100 list: • the lobbyists have to be registered with the Office of the Lobbying Commissioner, • they have to be influential with the current Conservative government • have the ability to manoeuvre their way through the federal bureaucracy in order to move their or their client's file • and/or, they have to represent an organization with clout, not onlyinsize, but with public policy issues at the forefront of today's political climate.

5. Top 100 Lobbyists • several energy-related corporations or lobbyists on the list because it's an issue on the top of the government agenda at the moment. • also why there are no environmental groups on the list, because, as has been previously reported: environment issues are not on this Conservative government's radar. • while perhaps not at the top of the government's agenda, a popular issue the past while has been the battle between cable companies and broadcasters over the fee-for-carriage issue. • So there are several telecommunications companies and lobbyists who represent them on the list.

6. The Firm & its Team • lobbying is often done in a team approach • therefore no one lobbyist can stand out. • Sometimes the team is made up of lobbyists from a cross-section of lobby firms • But in many, if not most cases, the team is made up by and within a firm and without the contacts and support of key members in a firm, the 'top lobbyists' would be lost. • The synergy of the team propels everyone.

7. The Hill Times Top 100 list • THE 'CONSULTANT' LOBBYISTS • Kristin Anderson • Global Public Affairs • A former Conservative Party staffer, Kristin Anderson is a well-connected lobbyist who specializes in energy and natural resources issues. • As the climate change debate comes to the forefront, she will be busy lobbying on behalf of her clients, Conoco Phillips Canada, Shell Canada Limited, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, Alliance Pipeline Limited Partnership and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

8. David Angus, Capital Hill Group • As a former federal and provincial political staffer, David Angus has the knowledge and network and is considered to be one of the most successful lobbyists in town. • He worked as the caucus liaison in Brian Mulroney's PMO from 1985-1987 and has more than 30 years of public policy and communications experience. • He is currently registered to lobby the federal government on behalf of more than 50 companies, including Molson Canada, UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bell Canada, Lockheed Martin, MacKenzie Aboriginal Corporation, and the CanadianShipownersAssociation among several others. Don Boudria, Hill and Knowlton • former Liberal MP and Cabinet minister for almost 20 years, is well-connected and an expert on government machinery. He is a senior counsellor at Hill and Knowlton, and is currently registered for Amgen Canada Inc., Council of Ontario Universities, Talisman Energy Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications, Bell Canada, EmbraerEmpressaBrasilera Aeronautics, Merck Frosst Canada and Canada's Research Based Pharmaceutical Companies among several others. Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates Clark is a respected lobbyist among insiders. He is a former public servant who worked for Foreign Affairs and Finance for more than 10 years, specializing in trade issues. As a lobbyist, his clients reflect his expertise in the regulated industries and services, including food standards and safety and security. He's currently registered to lobby the federal government on behalf of Dairy Farmers of Canada, Cameco Corporation, MethanexCorporation, Japan Iron and Steel Federation, U.S. Steel International, Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, Food Processors of Canada, and the Canadian Pork Council, among several others.

9. Budget Process • Pre-budget consultations in the fall • "Pre-budget stuff is very busy," said Geoff Norquay, a principal at government relations firm Earnscliffe Strategy Group. "The budget is the principal spending commitment of the year...” • Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has signalled the federal budget will be tight this year and while some lobbyists say that means the government is tuning out lobbyists on pre-budget consultations, others say it's business as usual.

10. Among the 5 most influential Lobby organizations in USA Monitor Group's project for Gadhafi was officially called "The Project to Enhance the Public Image of Libya and MoammarGadhafi." • 1500 employees and 29 offices around the world that boasts governments, nonprofits, and companies as clients • also raises questions about the line between academic research and advocacy. • Monitor asked for an “open budget’’ to pay for the trips of prominent people to Libya, and in some cases offered compensation for their time, according to internal memos published by the Libyan opposition group. • contract with a consulting group which promised to “enhance the profile of Libya and Muammar Quadhafi” in Britain and the US

11. Professors sent to visit Gaddafi included luminaries such as Joseph Nye, former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; Lord Anthony Giddens, former head of the London School of Economics; Francis Fukuyama political philosopher from Stanford University; and Benjamin Barber, who has written extensively about democracy... • Joseph Nye of Harvard’s Kennedy School wrote in TheNew Republic in 2007 that Muammar Qaddafi was interested in discussing “direct democracy.” • Anthony Giddens of the London School of Economics wrote in the Guardian the same year that Libya under Qaddafi could become “the Norway of North Africa.”  • Benjamin Barber of Rutgers University wrote in the Washington Post, also in 2007, that Libya under Qaddafi could become “the first Arab state to transition peacefully and without overt Western intervention to a stable, non-autocratic government.” • described his meetings with the dictator, who he called “surprisingly flexible and pragmatic.” • Now Barber says: “The pay isn’t the issue. The issue is what I was doing there: working to build democratic capacity.” • Links to what these profs wrote about Libya and Gaddafi: • http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2011/03/04/the-monitor-group-libya-and-positive-media-mentions/

12. FP Jan 2010Stephen M. WaltProf, IntRel @ Harvard • I was invited to give a lecture to its Economic Development Board, following in the footsteps of a number of other recent American visitors, including Frank Fukuyama, Bernard Lewis, Joseph Nye, Robert Putnam, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Richard Perle (!).  I'd never been to Libya before, and was looking forward to hearing what the audience had to say. • Libya appears to be more open than contemporary Iran or China and the overall atmosphere seemed far less oppressive than most places I visited in the old Warsaw Pact. • My own view (even before I visited) is that the improvement of U.S.-Libyan relations as one of the few (only?) success stories in recent U.S. Middle East diplomacy. • http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/01/18/the_shores_of_tripoli

13. On the Monitor Group’s website (now offline) • the group said it seeks to promote Libya by educating the White House and Congress about the country's "growing importance in maintaining stability in North Africa as well as Libya's potential as an expanding commercial market for American business." • The website also touts the USLBA's proximity to Gaddafi, stating that "we were the only U.S. business group to meet privately" with the leader during Gaddafi's "historic first visit" to the United Nations in 2009. • tried to groom Saif as a “thought leader” in Europe and in the United States, and reportedly received $3 million for the attempted makeover. • Bilateral trade with Libya totaled $2.7 billion in 2010, compared to practically nothing in 2003 when sanctions were still in force. • Richard Perle, as paid advisor to Monitor group, "traveled to Libya twice in 2006 to meet with Qadhafi, and afterward briefed Vice President Dick Cheney on his visits, according to documents released by a Libyan opposition group in 2009.“ • This was known: that the elite Lobby Groups were working to burnish Libya's and Qadhafi's image in a series of documents obtained and released by a Libyan opposition group, the National Conference of the Libyan Opposition, in 2009. • Other groups hired: Blank Rome & White and Case

14. Reflecting Monitor group's influence, founding chairman David Goldwyn was appointed the State Department's coordinator for international energy affairs by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. • On a visit to Libya in December 2008, Goldwyn waxed rhapsodic about the "fantastically warm reception" he and eight U.S. executives received from senior Libyan officials. • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/muammar-gaddafi-us-business-lobby_n_827769.html • Anne-Marie Slaughter, director of policy and planning in the US State Dept. • considered one of the most influential officials at the State Department • abruptly left last month • Hillary's close adviser caught in Libya scandal • http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=273305

15. In May through July 2009, the Libyan government's lobbyists contacted Rep. David Scott (D-GA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and former Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), who were all on the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the time. Lobbyists also directly contacted the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the U.S. Department of State. FARA records show that these meetings were regarding the "status of U.S. Libyan relations."

16. How to Lobby 101?Professors Paid by Qaddafi: Providing 'Positive Public Relations' • none of them said in TheNew Republic, the Guardian, or the Washington Post that they were being paid by Libyan money. That seems to be a clear violation of journalistic ethics—at least that’s what the then-editor of TheNew Republic, Franklin Foer, told David Corn of Mother Jones about Nye: “If we had known that he was consulting for a firm paid by the government, we wouldn’t have run the piece.” • Nye states: “In 2007 the Monitor Group which is a consulting company started by Harvard Business School professors was trying to see if they could make reforms or help Libya make reforms, this is a time when Libya had apparently changed its foreign policy, they'd given up their nuclear weapons program and were working on efforts to change or open up.” ...that’s all he says... • Monitor’s role in Libya has come under increasing scrutiny. • More detail from Boston Globe: “firm received $250,000 a month from the Libyan government from 2006 to 2008 for a wide range of services, including writing the book proposal, bringing prominent academics to Libya to meet Khadafy “to enhance international appreciation of Libya’’ and trying to generate positive news coverage of the country.” • Nye: “And so Monitor asked a number of prominent western intellectuals to go to Libya and to try to bring new ideas to Libya and they invited me to do so. I thought it would be interesting to see what Gaddafi was like, and also to see if it was possible to make any difference.” Nye emailed: "I was not told the contract was to ‘enhance the profile of Qaddafi.’”  Instead, Monitor told him that "the contract was to help bring about reform in Libya."

17. Livingston Group • Representative Robert L. Livingston left Congress in 1999 amid allegations of marital infidelity • Louisiana Republican went from being a $136,000-a-year congressman to the principal of The Livingston Group, a prominent lobby shop pulling in tens of millions of dollars and developing a specialty representing foreign governments including those of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Egypt. • Libyan signed contract: • use Livingston’s influence to help normalize Libya’s relations with the United States at a time that he wants to partner with U.S. oil companies to tap into the country’s substantial oil reserves. • Note: at the time it had signed a contract with the Livingston Group, its unpaid claims to the victims of a half dozen terrorist attacks, including the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, had hindered further progress • Livingston himself has escorted Ambassador Aujali to a series of meetings with Congressional leaders, buttonholing members of both parties to discuss Iraq-U.S. Relations • Livingstone’s LauriFitz-Pegadoaccompanied the chairman of the Qadhafia International Charity and Development Foundation - Qadhafia’s son - to the World Economic Forum in Davos in February, assisting him in “discussions regarding the foundation’s primary interests - human rights, the role of civil society, climate change, education and training.”

18. Livingston & Monitor Groups • Sunlight Foundation's Reporting Group blog & its Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker. • Group headed by Gaddafi's son Saif Al Islam Al Gaddafi, also registered to lobby and hired the Livingston Group. The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation's representatives in Washington held four meetings with 68 people from different think tanks and independent organizations. • Latest documents filed by Livingston with the U.S. Department of Justice, dated February 2010 and earlier, provides a road map of lobbying row and how it may open doors for dictators. Knew this in 2009, see map: http://news.muckety.com/2009/03/19/lawmaker-turned-lobbyist-bob-livingston-presses-libyas-agenda/13341 • In a single 6 month period, Livingston arranged for Libyan Ambassador Ali Aujali to hold private meetings with 23 members of Congress — nearly half of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. In the words of their September 18, 2009, filing, all of their activities “can be defined broadly as constituting political activity.” • Presented the “soft” side of Gaddafi’s Libya • Les Campbell, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Democratic Institute, was approached: My impression was that this was one of these typical “let’s try to put a different face on a repressive regime” type of attempts. • More: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/pjm-exclusive-two-u-s-lobbyists-paid-5-4m-by-libya-to-boost-regimes-image/ • http://sunlightfoundation.com/press/articles/2011/02/22/spotlight-libya-lobbyists/ • http://news.muckety.com/2009/03/19/lawmaker-turned-lobbyist-bob-livingston-presses-libyas-agenda/13341

19. “We Demand”

20. LEADING THINKERS VIDEO: Reimagining the cityYouth demand municipal engagement Special to Globe and Mail Update Monday, Mar. 07, 2011 NaheedNenshi, mayor of Calgary, championed younger voters during his campaign. "They're not apathetic," he says of youth in Canadian cities. "They need to understand that the institutions . . . are actually interested in engaging with them.“ LISTEN:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/leading-thinkers/youth-demand-municipal-engagement/article1932329/

21. Steps of Parliament, Ottawa, August 28, 1971.

22. Vancouver Courthouse, August 28, 1971 Steps of Parliament, Ottawa, August 28, 1971.

23. GetInvolved.ca Agenda Camps Getmatched

24. Chapter 8: The Bureaucracy Policy implementation is the role of the bureaucracy Implementation is not, however, an automatic process of converting legislative decisions into action. Unelected officials often wield enormous discretion in applying laws and administering programs The bureaucracy’s influence is not restricted to the implementation stage of policy-making. It begins at the agenda-setting stage, when problems and possible responses are being defined

25. Components of the Public Sector The public service. About half of the federal public sector falls into this category which includes all statutory departments and other organizations whose members are employees of the Treasury Board Agencies and tribunals. These include such regulatory bodies as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the National Transportation Agency, and the National Energy Board

26. More Components of the Public Sector • Crown corporations. These are organizations that, in some cases, perform commercial functions and typically operate at ‘arm’s length’ from the government of the day. • Examples: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Export Development Canada, the Farm Credit Corporation and Via Rail • Other organizations. Canadian Forces, the RCMP, independent commissioners reporting to Parliament, including the Privacy Commissioner, the Commissioner of Official Languages and the Auditor-General

27. Issues Concerning the Bureaucracy’s Role and Performance Administrative discretion Partisan neutrality The role of the deputy-minister Representation and responsiveness “On top” or “on tap”? (see http://www.yes-minister.com )

28. Setting Priorities and the Legislative Agenda Speech from the Throne Expenditure budget Revenue budget and economic statements White papers; royal commissions; task forces Almost all legislation passed by parliament has been introduced by a government minister

29. Budget Simulation • Prime Minister • Finance Minister • Minister of Health • Minister of Defence • Minister of Industry • Minister of Environment • Minister of INAC • Minister of Canadian Heritage • Minister of Natural Resources • Minister of Justice

30. Interest Groups • Canadian Nurses Association • Council of Canadians • President of the CBC • President of the Canada Council • President of SSHRC • President of NSERC • President of Canadian Federation of University Students • AUCC • Mining Association of Canada • Canadian Medical Association • Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations • National Inuit President, ITK, Mary Simon • Green Budget Coalition