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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 5, 2011

MIND YOUR MAJORITY, EH?

Ottawa, ON – Stephen Harper’s majority comes with clear boundaries. The election’s dramatic results – particularly the Orange Wave – do not signal a tectonic shift in Canadian politics towards a two-party state, rather the vote was a singular event based on a specific set of circumstances. These are the major findings of the first nationwide qualitative study of Canadian voters’ hopes, fears and expectations of the new Parliament released today by Ensight Canada.

On Tuesday, May 3 – less than 24 hours after the polls closed – Ensight Canada conducted a qualitative study of voters in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. It included new Canadians, parents, urban professionals and baby boomers. For the first time, it also assembled online panels of young voters and rural voters across the country.

“Canadians have given Prime Minister Harper permission to go full steam ahead on the economy,” said Jaime Watt, Ensight Canada Principal. “However, he does not have carte blanche to pursue an ideologically driven agenda.”

Jack Layton won his victory because voters were not happy with the alternatives. Voters want him to earn his position as Leader of the Opposition and they will not tolerate him acting like a Prime Minister in waiting.

Among the other key findings:

• While voters were firm in their desire to see public health care maintained, many were receptive to the idea of Harper exploring private involvement to improve quality and contain costs.
• Unlike 2006 and 2008, this time Canadians had minority fatigue. They crave stability and action on the economy. They blamed Michael Ignatieff for triggering the election, although Harper did not escape entirely unscathed.
• The so-called ethics issue had virtually no electoral impact, the result of an ineffective messenger flogging a tired message to an electorate fed up with political games.
• The Orange Wave is inextricably linked to Jack Layton’s personal popularity – not the NDP platform – and to a large extent resulted from Canadians’ embrace of his positive message and tone.
• Memories of the Rae government in Ontario and unhappiness with the current Nova Scotia NDP government blunted the Orange Wave in both provinces.
• Quebec voters share other Canadians’ economic concerns, and want to park sovereignty – but in Quebec City, not Ottawa.
• Voters did not “rise up.” Michael Ignatieff failed to offer them a reason why they should. The Liberal brand is damaged but remains strong, but unlike 2008, there is no clear choice for a new leader.

“Tolerance for hyper-partisanship and political nastiness is at an all time low,” said Peter Landry, Ensight Canada Consultant. “Canadians expect this majority parliament to end that. They expect a fundamental change in tone from their elected representatives.”

“Some pundits claim they see an American-style polarization among Canadians in these numbers. That’s not what voters told us,” said Robin Sears, Ensight Canada Principal. “Canadians want strong economic management and centrist government.”

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About Ensight Canada
Ensight Canada specializes in government relations and stakeholder management at the strategic level. Ensight Canada was created out of a strategic partnership between Navigator Ltd and Enterprise Canada, two of the country’s leading research, strategic communications and government relations firms. Designed to serve clients in today’s tough regulatory atmosphere, Ensight Canada was created to provide clients with a team experienced at delivering results in Ottawa, and disciplined by the new era of accountability.

Contact:

Chris Eby
(416) 642-5000
ceby@navltd.com

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Download this Media Release in PDF format.

NDP MP Pat Martin has famously said that “lobbyists are like bats in your attic: They’re hard to get rid of, they can’t operate in the light of day, and if you leave them there long enough, they rot your timbers.” That’s exactly the type of image that the Government Relations Institute of Canada wants to dispel, which is why some board members have undertaken to educate the “off the Hill” community with lobbying 101-type presentations.

The main message they are conveying is that lobbying, or government advocacy, plays an important role in the public policy process. Ensight managing director Jacquie LaRocque was recently invited to make a presentation to University of Ottawa students where she attempted to demystify what a lobbyist does.

“Government advocacy should be an active, sustained effort to engage the government, opposition parties and other stakeholders,” Ms. LaRocque said. “It’s founded upon establishing and maintaining positive working relationships and sector expertise and a real understanding of how government works.”

Ms. LaRocque stressed that advocates can be found across all sectors, including the non-profit, industrial and business sectors, and are required to work within the heightened transparency framework of the Federal Accountability Act. “We’ve always said that we support accountability and transparency so long as the rules are clear,” said Ms. LaRocque, a GRIC board member, adding that government relations experts are integral to the public policy process. “Good policy requires constructive public engagement and that’s what we do. We serve a democratic function by engaging the government on behalf of Canadians on issues that are relevant to them.”

In her presentation, Ms. LaRocque also said lobbying is founded upon establishing and maintaining positive working relationships. This is why many in the government relations industry are active in charitable work and come from a diverse background with experiences in different industries. For example, Ms. LaRocque is a former federal bureaucrat who later worked as the communications director for Liberal International Trade minister Jim Peterson. She has also worked in communications for an industry association and later as the director of government relations for GlaxoSmithKline.

She also told the students that in a minority government situation, all Parliamentarians
matter. “Students asked tough questions but also wanted to learn more about the industry, which to me is a step in the right direction in dispelling the myths that are out there,” Ms. LaRocque told The Hill Times.

Last Thursday, Treasury Board president Stockwell Day (Okanagan-Coquihalla, B.C.) announced that all Parliamentarians, including backbench and opposition MPs and Senators, as well as senior staff in the Opposition Leaders Office in both the House and the Senate, will be subject to the Lobbying Act as designated public office holders. DPOHs are prevented from registering as a lobbyist and lobbying the federal government for five years after leaving their positions. The previous DPOH list included ministers, their staff, and senior members of the bureaucracy. Registered lobbyists must also disclose their meetings with DPOHs in monthly communications reports.

“We want to make sure that citizens know that MPs who are involved in drafting legislation and bringing forward legislation, voting on legislation and other major issues that affect everybody’s lives, that there is a transparent process in place when it comes to this act of lobbying and we believe that this will go a long way to doing that,” Mr. Day said at a press conference. He said the government hopes to have the regulation in place as of Sept. 20.

In response to the new regulation, GRIC president Charles King, vice-president of government relations for Shaw cable, said that GRIC “supports the government’s goal of transparency and openness and [members] will continue to follow the rules.”

The government relations industry has been hit recently because of reports of allegations of unregistered lobbying by former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, which prompted MPs to vote unanimously to change the lobbying rules in the spring. The industry is also dealing with a recent federal court ruling stating that lobbyists should not be able to fundraise for ministers they’re lobbying. Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd issued a subsequent guidance on the issue, commonly referred to as rule 8, that lobbyists should refrain from ‘political activities’ to prevent a conflict of interest but did not specify what those political activities were.

GRIC is holding its annual general meeting on Sept. 27, featuring Ms. Shepherd as the luncheon guest speaker, where these issues will most likely be discussed.