Technology companies increasingly lobby the Canadian federal government. The Tech Lobby Project regularly submits Access to Information (ATI) requests for records relating to lobbying communications between Canadian federal government departments and companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Netflix, Twitter, Sidewalk Labs and Uber. Read more about our ATI requests here. Below you can find a list of the documents we’ve received recently in response to our ATI requests.
You can subscribe to receive a list of descriptions of recent ATI responses we have received by monthly email by signing up to our monthly email listserv here. For more information, or to access the documents themselves, please email Sara Bannerman at banners@mcmaster.ca
Tech Lobby News
[ATI NEWS] Alberta chooses secrecy … again; The Alberta government has blocked the release of e-mail correspondence … (The Globe and Mail)
[ONLINE NEWS ACT ] Ottawa should accommodate Google’s C-18 concerns, urges group representing Canada’s major publishers (The Globe and Mail)
[ONLINE NEWS ACT] News media lobby group says it agrees with Google’s concerns about Online News Act (The Canadian Press)
Received in July 2023
Amazon Web Services Canada
| Document Link | Reference |
| Document includes an email exchange between members of AWS and Rhonda Fernandes the Director General from Youth Skills Innovation Directorate regarding the digital skills development training that they’ve received. The email also included an introduction between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Benoit Tessier and Olivier Quirion from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). In exchange it seems that AWS is interested in learning more about the new Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) that was announced in the 2021 Budget. However, Olivier and Benoit have said that they are limiting their interactions with stakeholders as they design the program. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00953 Submitted to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #510568 Involving Benoit Tessier, Director General, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on June 16, 2021” (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), 2021), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) office and AWS. They’ve discussed the AWS summit, implementing cloud services and offered a 1-on-1 with Phillippa Manley (Executive Director, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to provide some details on PSPC and the Application Modernization project. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00373 Submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #542911 Involving Mollie Royds, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on September 27, 2022. ’ (Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) office and AWS. They’ve discussed the AWS summit, implementing cloud services and offered a 1-on-1 with Phillippa Manley (Executive Director, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to provide some details on PSPC and the Application Modernization project. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00373 Submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #542915 Involving Zepporah Toh, Senior Director, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on September 08, 2022. ’ (Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) office and AWS. They’ve discussed the AWS summit, implementing cloud services and offered a 1-on-1 with Phillippa Manley (Executive Director, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to provide some details on PSPC and the Application Modernization project. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00373 Submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #538028 Involving Colin Lalonde , Director of Policy, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on June 16, 2022. ’ (Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| The document includes an email exchange between Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Amazon Web Services about government services and cloud computing. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01685 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #487209 Involving Paul Wagner, Acting CTO, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on October 27, 2020.” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2020), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| The document includes an email exchange between Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Amazon Web Services about government services and cloud computing. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01676 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #493130 Involving Paul Wagner, Chief Technology Officer, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on December 04, 2020.” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2020), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariate and Amazon Web Services to schedule a meeting between Catherine Luelo and Matt Garman (AWS). | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01654 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #514690 Involving Catherine Luelo, Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc. on September 21, 2021.” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2021), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange regarding the visit by new Treasury Board Minister Mona Frontier to IBM Gatineau Client Innovation Centre. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01650 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #517777 Involving Catherine Luelo , Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and IBM Canada Ltd. on November 25, 2021” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2021), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
IBM Canada Ltd.
| Document Link | Reference |
| The document includes meeting memo with Claude Guay and Xerxes Cooper. The objective of the meeting was for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to meet the new President and executive leadership of IBM Canada. The desired outcome: to understand IBM Canada’s priorities to support pandemic recovery, address future skills gaps and grow quantum computing operations in Canada. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01006 Submitted to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #490843 Involving Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and IBM Canada Ltd. on November 03, 2020.” ’ (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), 2020), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| The document includes an email exchange about an executive exchange program between the Treasury Board of Canada and IBM Canada Ltd. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01690 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #484000 Involving Paul Wagner, Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and IBM Canada Ltd. on September 24, 2020.” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2020), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes email exchange and meeting calendar for the meeting with Mr. Claude Guay and Catherine Luelo Deputy Minister & Chief Information Officer of Canada. This meeting took place between the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and IBM Canada Ltd. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01649 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #525987 Involving Catherine Luelo, Deputy Minister & Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and IBM Canada Ltd. on February 04, 2022” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email correspondence between ISED employees. The subject of discussion: preparation for a 2-day trip to Bromont to receive a site presentation from IBM regarding semiconductor systems. IBM hosted both the Canada and US team for this presentation. The documents also include an information packet on Canada’s Semiconductor Industry, group photos, agenda, information packet and bios from the session. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00925 Submitted to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #541689 Involving Francis Bilodeau, Associate Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and IBM Canada Ltd. on August 08, 2022 ’ (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
Microsoft Canada Inc.
| Document Link | Reference |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) office and AWS. They’ve discussed the AWS summit, implementing cloud services and offered a 1-on-1 with Phillippa Manley (Executive Director, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to provide some details on Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Application Modernization project. In addition, the documents include a presentation by Microsoft Canada on climate innovation. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00373 Submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #544114 Involving Cory Pike, Chief of Staff, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Microsoft Canada Inc. on September 29, 2022. ’ (Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) office and AWS. They’ve discussed the AWS summit, implementing cloud services and offered a 1-on-1 with Phillippa Manley (Executive Director, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to provide some details on Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Application Modernization project. In addition, the documents include a presentation by Microsoft Canada on climate innovation. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00373 Submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #528746 Involving Lorenzo Ieraci, A/Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of Procurement, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Microsoft Canada Inc. on March 11, 2022. ’ (Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange between several members at the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) office and AWS. They’ve discussed the AWS summit, implementing cloud services and offered a 1-on-1 with Phillippa Manley (Executive Director, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to provide some details on Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Application Modernization project. In addition, the documents include a presentation by Microsoft Canada on climate innovation. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00373 Submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Records Related to a ’ All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #479327 Involving Duncan Retson, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Microsoft Canada Inc. on July 08, 2020.” ’ (Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), 2020), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
| This document includes an email exchange about a recent meeting between Marlene, Jason and Alfred. The exchange calls for an additional meeting to discuss: a request from SSSC for an update on Microsoft’s Accessibility Evolution Model and to explore the idea of a collaboration with Microsoft to make accessibility functionality training modules available to public service wide via the Canada School of Public Service’s learning platform. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-01644 Submitted to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #535277 Involving Alfred MacLeod, Assistant Deputy Minister, Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Microsoft Canada Inc. on May 11, 2022.” (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), 2022), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |
Netflix Inc.
| Document Link | Reference |
| The document includes Netflix Canada presentation to the ISED and the Department of Canadian Heritage. Presentation emphasizes Netflix’s production activity and their impact on the economy in Canada. | Government of Canada, Access to Information Request A-2022-00971 Submitted to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for Records Related to a “All Records Relating to Registered Lobbying Communication #518572 Involving André Arbour, A/Director General, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and Netflix Inc. on December 17, 2021” (Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada (ISED), 2021), http://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information. |