Category: Monthly Post

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Candidate (McMaster University)

This brief blog post presents IBM’s lobbying communication reports through the months of January and February 2023. As noted in an earlier company profile blog post featuring IBM, the lobbying practices of IBM Canada have not received as much journalistic attention as other large tech companies like Uber, Netflix, and Google. This blog post uses news articles to and information from IBM’s Registry of Lobbyists profile.  In January and February 2023, IBM logged a total of five communications reports with various government officials. Each communication report was about “science and technology.” IBM’s profile with the Registry of Lobbyists notes that the company communicates “with government officials about the Strategic Innovation Fund (“SIF”), more specifically funding for innovation.” The SIF “provides major investments in innovative projects that will help grow Canada’s economy for the well-being of all Canadians.” The fund is developed to support “research, development, and commercialization of new products and services” and to attract new investments to Canada that will create jobs, as well as “public-private partnerships to develop and demonstrate new technologies.” IBM’s January and February 2023 lobbying communications may have been about the recent passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, a Canada-US agreement “to facilitate investment to promote secure and resilient semiconductor supply chains, creating jobs in both countries.” Charles Manel reported that IBM and that Canadian government agreed to a “significant investment to develop new and expanded packaging and testing capabilities at its Bromont facility.”  This development will allow Canada to contribute to the development of semiconductors and printed circuit boards in North America.

IBM January 2023 Communication Reports

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-01-20	Ian Foucher, Chief of Staff Office of the Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Anson Duran, Senior Policy Director Office of the Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Science and Technology	Dave McCann

IBM February 2023 Communication Reports

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-02	Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) François-Philippe  Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry House of Commons	Science and Technology	Dave McCann
2023-02-16 (Update)	Boyan Gerasimov, Director of Policy Office of the Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Mitch Davies, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister & Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Anson Duran, Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Françis Bilodeau, Associate Deputy Minister Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Science and Technology	Dave McCann
2023-02-22	Pascale St-Onge, Member of Parliament for Brome—Missisquoi House of Commons	Science and Technology	Dave McCann
2023-02-27	Mary Gregory, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Sector Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Science and Technology	Dave McCann

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Candidate (McMaster University)

Netflix did not log any communications reports through December 2022 or January 2023. However, in February 2023, Netflix picked up where it had left off in November 2022, registering three communications reports on the topic “arts and culture” and “broadcasting.” In Netflix’s November monthly update blog post, it was noted that Netflix’s lobbying activities primarily revolved around Bill C-11. Bill C-11 aims to regulate digital streaming platforms such as Netflix by requiring them to create and promote a certain percentage of Canadian content and make it accessible to Canadian users. 

Netflix has long expressed its discontent with Bill C-11. Early in the legislative process Netflix made a submission to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage about the Study of Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. Submitted by Stéphane Cardin, Director of Public Policy at Netflix, the submission highlighted Netflix’s investments in Canada. Netflix reminded Canada that in 2020, over 40 original Canadian produced titles were released on the platform. The submission also reminded Canadian Heritage that in 2017, Netflix established Netflix Canada, which was the platforms “first permanent production presence outside of the U.S.,” and committed to Canada under the Investment Canada Act which obligates Netflix to invest “a minimum of $500 million over five years in production activity across the country.”

On October 4, 2022, Cardin appeared before the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications. Again, Cardin spoke to Netflix’s investment in Canada and their active promotion of Canadian content. Cardin raised Netflix’s concerns about Bill C-11 stating, “We believe a new legislative framework should recognize that streaming services provide an unparalleled opportunity to promote Canadian stories to global audiences.”  Cardin reminded the committee that Netflix has “invested more than $3.5 billion in Canadian production since 2017.”

Netflix’s reminders of the company’s investment in Canada may be attempts to have the Canadian government reconsider its efforts to indirectly regulate Netflix’s recommender systems for users in Canada. Cardin expressed that although Bill C-11 has a “noble objective”, it threatens to allow the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to “force Netflix to serve up Canadian films and TV programs people might not want to watch.”  Cardin claims Bill C-11 creates “a situation where you will force a certain content option onto a viewer and it is something that they are not interested in: It’s a Canadian horror film and someone is only interested in Canadian romantic comedies. That results in that show being viewed less favourably, and that has an impact.” 

Such statements have contributed to a wider concern that Bill C-11 constitutes a censorship Bill. For instance, Senator David Admas Richards an acclaimed novelist and screenwriter, claimed that Bill C-11 was “censorship passing as national inclusion.” Richards concerns is primarily related to the powers that Bill C-11 would give the CRTC to decide what does and doesn’t count as Canadian content. Likewise, Matt Hatfeild Campaigns Director for the internet advocacy group OpenMedia, noted that Bill C-11 is “potentially regulating people’s individual expression” by determining what Canadians can watch.

As noted in an earlier blog post, although Ian Scott stated in a June 2022 Senate meeting that the CRTC might tell platforms to “manipulate it (the algorithm) to produce particular outcomes,” the CRTC is primarily interested in an outcome where Canadian content is being promoted by streaming platforms, regulators are less interested in the specific tools they apply to generate that outcome. Bill C-11 does not seek to control the algorithms of recommendations systems like Netflix; it merely dictates a certain promotion of Candain content to make it more discoverable. Bill C-11 specifically rules against the government tinkering with the algorithms of streaming services. As Marie Woolf points out, “A clause in the bill would prevent the CRTC making an order requiring the “use of a specific computer algorithm or source code.”

Netflix is also worried that the definition of Canadian content is too broad. Cardin added that under the current definition of Canadian content  “many productions made in Canada with Canadian actors and crew might not count as Canadian, because Netflix or a company from outside Canada owns the intellectual property rights.”  Canadian film industry leaders have also been concerned about the definition of Canadian content because that definition will be re-examined after Bill C-11 passes. Once Bill C-11 had gone through its third reading in the Senate on February 2, 2023, Canadian film industry leaders expressed their concerns that Bill C-11 could be disadvantageous for Canadian filmmakers and TV producers because it would produce a “two tiered system” for Canadian production and foreign players. Essentially, foreign streaming services like Netflix would not be held to the same standard for Canadian content as Canadian production companies. This would give streaming services an edge over Canadian production companies.

The following table presents Netflix’s communication reports from the federal lobbyist registry for the month of February 2023.

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-03	Jude Welch, Chief of Staff to the Minister Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Arts and Culture	Reg Thompson
2023-02-03	Jude Welch, Chief of Staff to the Minister Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Arts and Culture	Reg Thompson
2023-03-24	Matthew  Gray , Policy Advisor Canadian Heritage (PCH) Jude Welch, Chief of Staff to the Minister Canadian Heritage (PCH) Ron Ahluwalia, Director of Policy Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Arts and Culture, Broadcasting	Reg Thompson

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Candidate (McMaster University)

This brief blog post presents Oracle’s lobbying communication reports submitted for February 2023. In February 2023, Oracle only logged one communication report with the Registry of lobbyist on the topic of “government procurement.” Oracle’s profile in the Registry of Lobbyists notes that the company actively” “seeks to identify and secure federal procurement opportunities as it relates to innovating public service delivery”. Though it is hard to interpret what Oracle lobbied Shared Services Canada about, securing government contracts continues to be an important objective for Oracle as the company competes with larger tech platforms in the realm of cloud services. Through January and February 2023, Oracle signed two government contracts valued over $10,000. On January 23, 2023, Oracle signed a contract valued at $10,738.95 with the National Film Board for work related to “License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)”.  On February 24, 2023 Oracle signed a contract valued at $72,729.92 with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for work related to “License/Maintenance fees for App Software.”  

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-16	Robert Ianiro, ADM Shared Services Canada (SSC)	Government Procurement	Kevin Tetreault

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Candidate (McMaster University)

This brief blog post traces Microsoft’s lobbying activity in February 2023. Microsoft submitted only one communication report to the Registry of Lobbyist in February 2023. This blog post follows up on Microsoft’s earlier lobbying communication reports from November and December 2022 and uses news articles to contextualize Microsoft’s current lobbying goals. This blog post also reports government contracts valued over $10,000 that Microsoft signed form January through February.

Although Microsoft lobbyists were busy through November and December 2022, Microsoft did not log any lobbying communications reports for January 2023 and only registered one meeting in February 2023. On February 13, 2023, Chris Barry, President of Microsoft Canada, met with a Policy Advisor of the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss “privacy and access to information”. Microsoft’s profile on the registry of lobbyists website notes that the corporation is “Communicating with the Government of Canada about Bill C-27 (Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022), more specifically the creation of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act, and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.”   Microsoft’s February meeting may have been a continuation of talks about Bill C-27.  As noted in a previous monthly update blog post, Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and sponsor of Bill C-27 states that the Bill contains four principle objectives: 1) Gives people more control of their data online, 2) Protects children’s information 3) Addresses the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) 4) Brings Canada’s privacy laws into the 21st century.  Currently, Bill C-27 is at second reading in the House of Commons. The Bill contains multiple acts related to digital privacy, but it also includes the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). Additionally, Catharine Tunney of the CBC notes that Bill C-27 would force companies to “obtain consent from customers through plain language – not a long, jargon-filled legal document – before using their personal data.” The Bill would also give Canadians the right to request deletion of their personal data  collected by corporations. Should digital corporations fail to comply with the privacy rules set put by Bill C-27, they could face “fines of up to five per cent of global revenue or $25 million — whichever is greater — for the most serious offences.” According to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, Bill C-27 would provide “the heaviest fines among the G7 nations’ privacy laws.” Undoubtedly, Microsoft seeks to understand how AiDA may challenge the companies plans to incorporate ChatGPT’s artificial intelligence into its Bing search engine and Edge web browser which will serve as AI banisters for Microsoft users navigating their way through the web. Although Microsoft did not file any lobbying communication reports in January 2023, the company did sign two government contracts over $10,000. On January 1, Microsoft signed a contract valued at $10,339.94 with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for work related to computer equipment (servers). On January 6, Microsoft signed a contract valued at $12,992.46 with the National Film Board for work related to “License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)”.

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-13	Lionel-Fritz Adimi, Policy Advisor Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)	Privacy and Access to Information	Chris Barry

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Candidate (McMaster University)

This monthly lobbying report follows Amazon’s lobbying activities through the month of February 2023. It draws on news articles published during this lobbying period to contextualize Amazon’s lobbying efforts.

The first section traces Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services lobbying activities which were focused on Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, and small businesses. Bill C-11 passed in the Senate with amendments on February 2, 2023. Bill C-11 is aimed at streaming services like Amazon Prime which would become subjected to “Canadian content requirements and regulations comparable to traditional broadcasters.” Bill C-11 would require major streaming platforms to spend millions investing in producing and promoting Canadian content.

Amazon Web Services Canada’s lobbying activities appear to remain focussed on government procurement as they continue to seek government contracts for their cloud services.

Neither Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services nor Amazon Web Services registered lobbying communications reports for the month of January 2023.

Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services, ULC: February 2023 Lobbying Summary

Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services did not report any lobbying communications during the months of December 2022 or January 2023. However, in February 2023, the company picked up where it had left off in November 2022, reporting five lobbying communications with various government officials. Three of the five meetings were about “broadcasting”. As noted in a previous monthly update blog post, Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services’ lobbying profile on the Registry of Lobbyist website does not explain specifically what it lobbies about related to broadcasting. However, it is likely that Amazon’s lobbying about broadcasting is related to Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, which passed with several amendments in the Senate on February 2, 2023. Bill C-11 updates Canada’s Broadcasting Act to account for online streaming giants like Amazon which hosts its own streaming service Amazon Prime. As of 2021, Amazon Prime Video has a viewership of 12.2 million in Canada. Bill C-11 requires streaming services like Netflix and Amazon to “contribute to Canadian content and make it accessible to users in Canada — or face steep penalties”.  

Amazon’s position on Bill C-11 is similar to those of other major streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube. In August 2022, a trade group representing YouTube, Amazon, and Spotify, called the Digital Media Association (DiMA), submitted a letter to the Standing Committee in Transport and Communications on Bill C-11.  DiMA called Bill C-11 an “antiquated approach to internet communications” which “attempts to impose a system of regulation that is designed for traditional broadcasters onto streaming services” . DiMA articulated this antiquated approach to broadcasting regulation in the digital era as an impediment for “innovative streaming services in an era of consumer choice, where, otherwise, there are no gatekeepers to content as there are in the broadcasting context.”

Although Canadian Heritage Minister, Pablo Rodriguez notes that there has been “been approximately 218 witnesses, 43 meetings, 119 briefs and 73 proposed amendments” about Bill C-11 between the House of Commons and the Senate, Amazon has not had representatives serve as a witnesses in either the House of Commons or Senate to discuss the Bill. Amazon’s involvement with DiMA suggests that Amazon has elected to work behind the scenes compared to other major streaming platforms who are lobbing more actively and publicly against Bill C-11.

Indeed, it appears as though Amazon is a part of a united front of American corporations who are lobbying against Bill C-11. Deputy United States trade representative Jayme White has expressed Washington’s concern that Bill C-11 unfairly targets American firms. Likewise, US trade representative Katherine Tai expressed the US’s “ongoing concerns with… pending legislation in the Canadian Parliament that could impact digital streaming services and online news sharing and discriminate against U.S businesses”.  Canada argues that Bill C-11 does not infringe any of its trade obligations with the US. Michael Geist notes that these discussions between Canadian and U.S. officials suggests that Bill C-11 may be an item for discussion between Biden and Trudeau during Bidens upcoming visit to Canada in March. Canadian Lawyer Lawrence Herman has noted that this type of intervention by American politicians in Canada’s pending legislation reflects “a well-orchestrated lobbying effort by the major digital platforms”.

In February 2023, Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services also lobbied on the topics of “small business” and “economic development”. It is unclear exactly what Amazon lobbies about related to small businesses. However, on its website, Amazon Canada expresses the corporations commitment to small businesses, claiming they are the “backbone of the Canadian economy” because they create jobs and drive innovation. According to a 2022 Amazon Canada Impact Report released in December 2022, Amazon has grown more than 40,000 full and part time employees across Canada. In 2021, more than 41,000 third-party sellers from across Canada sold more than 100 million products on Amazon.  Amazon also invests in tools and services to help small businesses reach more customers and protect their brands. For example, in 2021, Amazon “launched the Intellectual Property (IP) Accelerator in Canada, which directly connects Canadian Small Business owners with a curated network of local law firms charging reduced rates on key trademark protection services, giving SMBs access to expert legal and general IP advice that may otherwise be cost-prohibitive or hard to find”.  

While Amazon displays a commitment to Canadian Small Businesses, it is important to note that in the past, this type of support has served as a shield from looming antitrust legislation. For example, in March 2022, POLITICO reported that in the United States, lobbyists for Amazon had “mobilized an army of small businesses as well as users who rely on their platforms to discourage Congress from passing bills aimed at curtailing their power”. Further, although Amazon supports small businesses, the Financial Post recently reported that “Amazon is taking half of each sale from its merchants”. Although Amazon provides a platform and resources for small businesses to compete in the global marketplace, Juozas Kaziukenas of the research firm Marketplace Pulse, notes that for small businesses, “it’s getting harder and harder to be profitable because they are spending more and more money on Amazon fees”.   The following table presents Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services’ lobbying communications through the month of February 2023. This table was compiled using info from the Registry of Lobbyist website.

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-02	Ron Ahluwalia, Director Of Policy Canadian Heritage (PCH) Jude Welch, Chief of Staff Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Broadcasting	Jasmin Begagic
2023-02-08	James Maloney, Member of Parliament House of Commons	Broadcasting	Jasmin Begagic
2023-02-09	Husain Aboghodieh, Policy Advisor Global Affairs Canada (GAC)	Small Business	Jasmin Begagic
2023-02-10	Ron Ahluwalia, Director Of Policy Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Broadcasting	Jasmin Begagic
2023-02-16	Sébastien Lemire, Member of Parliament House of Commons	Economic Development	Jasmin Begagic

Amazon Web Services Canada, Inc.: February 2023 Lobbying Summary

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that “provides on-demand cloud computing services for individuals, companies and governments on a metred, pay-as-you-go basis”. As noted in an earlier company profile blog post, “according to the subject matter details provided in the lobbying registrations, nearly all of Amazon’s lobbying is in an effort to pursue Government contracts through their subsidiary Amazon Web Services’ cloud-based solutions software, and to influence policy decisions as they relate to cloud computing.” 

Amazon Web Services remains focused on government procurement for their cloud services. Based on Amazon’s lobbying communication reports filed in February, the corporation may currently be seeking government procurement for cloud services for the Department of National Defence (DND). In February 2023, AWS met with two separate DND officials to discuss “government procurement” and “defence”. As noted in a previous company profile blog, in February 2022, Dave Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute noted that it would  soon be time for Canada to modernize the military’s systems and processors. It is possible that Amazon is aiming to secure contracts with the Canadian Government to supply these services. In February 2023, Amazon Web Services signed contracts worth  $442,653.76 on February 14 with National Film Board for work related to the “Rental of computer equipment related to production and operations (P&O) environment – All servers, storage, printers, etc. (includes all related parts and peripherals)”. The subsidiary of Amazon also signed a contract on February 1 worth $97,406.00 with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for work related to “license and Maintenance fees for Client Software”.

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-03	Jaxson Khan, Policy Advisor Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Science and Technology	Eric Gales
2023-02-03	Elizabeth Anderson, Senior Special Assistant Global Affairs Canada (GAC)	Industry	Gales
2023-02-07	Rob Jamieson, Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Minister Public Safety, Public Safety Canada (PS)	Industry	Eric Gales
2023-02-16	Corinne Havard, Policy Advisor National Defence (DND)	Government Procurement	Eric Gales
2023-02-16	Thomas Gagne, Director, Stakeholder Relations National Defence (DND)	Defence	Eric Gales

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Candidate (McMaster University)

This monthly lobbying report follows Google’s lobbying activities through the months of January and February 2023. The charts included in this blog post indicate that much of Google’s lobbying focus during this period relates to Bill C-18, the Online News Act which would force major tech platforms like Google and Meta to negotiate revenue sharing deals with Canadian media corporations for news links shared on their platforms. This blog post draws on news articles published during this lobbying period to contextualize Googles lobbying efforts.

Google Canada Corporation: January 2023 Lobbying Summary

While January 2023 was a quiet month for lobbying for most major tech companies, Google remained active reporting four meetings with various government officials. All four meetings were on the topic “Broadcasting and media”.  More specifically, Google notes that its lobbying activities involve, “Communicating with the Government of Canada about Bill C-18 (An Act Respecting Online Communications Platforms), more specifically about the regulation of online content”. As noted in an earlier blog post, Bill C-18 would effectively force tech companies hosting digital platforms, like Google and Meta, to negotiate financial compensation with Canadian news organizations for news links shared on its digital platforms. Google’s four January meetings with government officials about broadcasting and media took place mere weeks after Bill C-18 passed in the House of Commons on December 14, 2023 . Bill C-18 is now headed for review in the Senate.

Bill C-18 is designed for major platforms like Google to “compensate journalism publications for reposting their content”.  As noted by Canadian journalist Roger Belgrave, newspaper revenues have been depleted by platforms like Google and Facebook which often circulate news articles done by journalists on their platforms. Belgrave notes that, “big tech corporations have reportedly captured well north of 70 per cent of all digital ad revenue in Canada.” Tech platform’s grip on Canadian journalism has forced closure of many newspapers. According to Heritage Canada, “more than 450 news outlets have closed since 2008, with more than 60 of those closures coming in the last two years”. According to the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), financial strain related to the COVID-19 pandemic caused many of Canada’s ethnic newspapers either stopped printing or shifted to digital modes of distribution eliminating print media. Ethnic newspapers hope that Bill C-18 will “give ethnic press the bargaining power with online platforms like Google to attract much needed advertising dollars.”  According to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Bill C-18 would reportedly funnel $150 million per year into the news industry. Although some are skeptical that major broadcasting corporations like “the CBC, Bell, Shaw, and Rogers” would get the lions share of this funding.

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-01-19	Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator for Québec Senate of Canada Paula Simons, Senator for Alberta Senate of Canada	Media, Broadcasting	Sabrina Geremia
2023-01-19	Thomas Owen Ripley, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Cultural Affairs Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Broadcasting, Media	Sabrina Geremia
2023-01-24	Peter Harder, Senator for Ontario Senate of Canada	Broadcasting, Media	Sabrina Geremia
2023-01-25	Lionel Fritz Adimi, Policy Advisor, Policy and Cabinet Affairs Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)	Broadcasting, Media	Sabrina Geremia

Google Canada Corporation: February 2023 Lobbying Summary

Google ramped up its lobbying communications in February 2023. In February, Google held eleven meetings with various members of Canadian Government. Ten of these meetings were on the topics of “Broadcasting and Intellectual Property”. Undoubtedly, much of Google’s lobbying efforts remain focussed on Bill C-18 which is now under review in the Senate. Since publishing a blog post titled “It’s Time to Fix Bill C-18″ in November, 2022, Google has communicated several concerns with Bill C-18. Google worries the bill would lead to a link tax, forcing them to pay news organizations for links to articles regardless of their quality. Additionally, Google fears that the bill would subsidize “non-authoritative or biased news sources”. Google also worries that further amendments to Bill C-18 would mean that the company would have to  extend payments to more types of media organizations like community radio stations.

On February 22 it was first reported by the Canadian Press, that Google would be “blocking some Canadian users from viewing news content” as a test of a potential response to Bill C-18 should the Bill be passed in the Senate. Google confirmed that the test would affect approximately 4% of Canadian Google users – which would affect roughly one million Canadians  – and run for a period of five weeks. During the news blocking experiment, Canadians would still be able to access news sites by typing web addresses directly into their web browsers. However, searching for news through a typical Google search would no longer be a function of Google Search for effected users.  The change applies to Google’s search engine as well as the Discover feature on Android devices, which also carries news and sports stories.  

Google spokesperson Shay Purdy defended Google’s news blocking experiment noting “We’ve been fully transparent about our concern that C-18 is overly broad and, if unchanged, could impact products Canadians use and rely on every day. We remain committed to supporting a sustainable future for news in Canada and offering solutions that fix Bill C-18”.  Google has attempted to frame their Canadian news search experiment as one among the many “thousands of tests” that the company runs each year to “asses any potential changes to Search”.

It should be noted that although Google claimed only 4% of Canadians would be affected by their experiment, there has been some speculation that the experiment has either affected more than 4% of Canadians or is disproportionately targeting journalists. President of News Media Canada, Paul Deegan, notes  “we were somewhat surprised by the company’s statement that this only affected 4% of users, given the number of journalist who have come forward to say they noticed it”.  

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called Google’s experiment a “terrible mistake” and expressed his disappointment that Google “decided that they’d rather prevent Canadians from accessing news than actually paying journalist for the work they do”. As response to Google’s news blocking experiment, the federal government has discussed pulling its own advertising from Google. Additionally, MPs of the Commons heritage committee, chaired by Hedy Fry,  have requested a special meeting with Google executives to understand and question Google’s “damaging and reckless behaviour”. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather expressed his desire for Google chief executive Sundar Pichai to be called to testify and “explain to parliamentarians and Canadians why they have taken the action to test blocking of news sites in Canada”. 

Heritage Minister Rodriguez condemned Google for using “scare tactics” to prevent the bill’s passage through the Senate. The Heritage Committee passed Liberal MP Chris Bittle’s motion which called for four of Google’s top executives to appear before the Parliamentary committee. The motion also requires Google to hand over all copies of “documents and messages related to its decision” to run the news blocking experiment. The Committee also requested a comprehensive list of Canadian news organizations being targeted by the company for blocking. Bittle’s motion calls on the following Google executives to appear before the Heritage Committee: Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer; Richard Gingras, Vice President of News at Google; Sabrina Geremia, Google’s Country Manager for Canada; and Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO. Sabrina Geremia is the responsible officer for all communication reports filed by Google on the Registry of Lobbyist website between January and February 2023. She was also the author of the November Google blog post “It’s Time to Fix Bill C-18″. With the passing of Bittle’s motion, these Google executives would be required to appear before the Heritage Committee before March 6.

To further contextualize Google’s news blocking experiment as a response to Bill C-18, in October 2022, Meta also warned that it would block the sharing of news content in Canada on its platform as a response to Bill C-18. It should also be noted that Bill C-18 is based on Australian legislation which also received similar responses from Google and Meta. When Australia introduced the Australian Online News Act, Google “threatened to close its Australian search engine, while Facebook cut all third-party content from Australian accounts for more than a week.” Although Google and Meta tech struck deals with Australian media companies Google has also previously threatened to withhold its services within countries considering passing media legislation.

Spokeswoman Laura Scaffidi of Heritage Canada noted that such scare tactics did not work in Australia and will not work in Canada either because “Canadians won’t be intimidated.” Heritage Canada maintains that “At the end of the day, all we’re asking the tech giants to do is compensate journalists when they use their work”   On February 1, 2023, Google LLC signed a contract with Invest in Canada worth $113,000 for work related to advertising services.

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matters	Responsible Officer
2023-02-13	Jude Welch, Chief of Staff Office of the Minister , Canadian Heritage (PCH)   Brian  MacKay, Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Minister, Canadian Heritage (PCH)   Ron Ahluwalia, Director of Policy Office of the Minister, Canadian Heritage (PCH)	Broadcasting, Intellectual Property	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-13	Rachael Thomas, Member of Parliament for Lethbridge House of Commons Andrew Scheer, Member of Parliament for Regina—Qu’Appelle House of Commons	Broadcasting,  Intellectual Property	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-14	Fabian Manning, Senator for Newfoundland & Labrador Senate of Canada	Broadcasting,  Intellectual Property	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-14	Scott Tannas, Senator for Alberta Senate of Canada	Broadcasting,  Intellectual Property	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-14	Tony Loffreda, Senator for Québec Senate of Canada	Intellectual Property,  Broadcasting	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-15	Peter M. Harder, Senator for Ontario Senate of Canada Brian Laghi, Director of Parliamentary Affairs Office of the Government Representative, Senate of Canada	Intellectual Property,  Broadcasting	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-15	Roy Rempel, Director of Policy Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Senate of Canada	Broadcasting,  Intellectual Property	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-15	Donna Dasko, Senator for Ontario Senate of Canada	Intellectual Property,  Broadcasting	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-21	Jaxson Khan, Policy Advisor Office of the Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Privacy and Access to Information,  Science and Technology	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-23	Lionel Fritz Adimi, Policy Advisor Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)	Intellectual Property,  Broadcasting	Sabrina Geremia
2023-02-25	Anthony Housefather, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement House of Commons	Intellectual Property,  Broadcasting	Sabrina Geremia

By: Brad McNeil, PhD Student (McMaster University)

This blog posts traces Microsoft’s lobbying activities in November and December 2022 by tracking communications reports registered by Microsoft on the Registry of Lobbyist website. This blog post presents Microsoft’s November 2022 lobbying communication reports and also presents the contracts Microsoft signed with the government valued over $10,000 for the month. Next, this blog post presents Microsoft’s December 2022 lobbying activities and communication reports and government contracts signed. Overall, this post shows that Microsoft’s lobbying activities for the combined months of November and December 2022 were about the environment and privacy concerns related to Bill C-27 (the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022).

Microsoft Canada Inc.: November Lobbying Summary

Microsoft Canada President Chris Barry has registered six communications from November through December. Five of these communications were on the topic of “Privacy and Access to Information” and one was about the “Environment.”

Microsoft Canada’s lobbying details on the registry of lobbyist site notes that they communicate “with the Government of Canada about Bill C-27 (Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022), more specifically the creation of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act, and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.”  

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, notes that C-27 involves four principle objectives: 1) Gives people more control of their data online, 2) Protects children’s information 3) Addresses the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) 4) Brings Canada’s privacy laws into the 21st century.   

In order to give Canadians more access over their data, Bill C-27 introduces data portability which would allow users to request access to their data so they may migrate from their current service provider to an alternative one. However, As Bryan Short of OpenMedia points out, data portability is only meaningful in a competitive industry where the consumer has several viable options when it comes to choosing a service provider. Bill C-27 is at second reading in the House of Commons.

Related to Microsoft’s ‘Environmental’ lobbying activity. On November 7, 2022, Microsoft announced its 15-year agreement with Potentia Renewables Inc and Greengate Power Corporation. The agreement allows Microsoft to utilize 543GWh of renewable wind energy for its operations in Paintearth County, Alberta. Speaking on this development, Chris Barry said: “Renewable energy supply contracts like this agreement with Potentia and Greengate are key to meeting our goal of contracting 100 percent of our energy consumption with renewable sources by 2025… This agreement with Paintearth is an important step in helping Microsoft deliver on our renewable energy commitments in Canada.”  

Communications	Lobbied	Subject Matter	Responsible Officer
2022-11-16	Mark Schaan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Privacy and Access to Information	Chris Barry
2022-11-16	Sophie Martel, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister National Defence (DND)	Environment	Chris Barry
2022-11-17	Jaxson Khan, Policy Advisor Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Privacy and Access to Information	Chris Barry
2022-11-23	Jaxson Khan, Policy Advisor Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Ian Foucher, Chief of Staff Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Privacy and Access to Information	Chris Barry

Microsoft’s Government Contracts Signed During November and December 2022

In November 2022, Microsoft signed 21 government contracts over $10,000. In addition to the lobbying communications chart, the chart below displays all contracts valued over $10,000 signed in the month of November, 2022.

Date of Contract	Value	Organization	Work Description
2022-01-22	$2,208,942.08	Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat	License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
2022-01-22	$535,733.00	National Defence	Information technology and telecommunications consultants
2022-01-22	$960,093.10	Global Affairs Canada	License/Maintenance fees for client software relat
2022-02-22	$20,950.20	Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	Application software (including COTS) and application development and delivery software
2022-02-22	$20,950.20	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada	Application software (including COTS) and application development and delivery software
2022-02-22	$276,087.17	Employment and Social Development Canada	License/Maintenance fees for operating system and utility software related to servers, storage, peripherals and components
2022-02-22	$82,414.08	Employment and Social Development Canada	License/Maintenance fees for operating system and utility software related to servers, storage, peripherals and components
2022-04-22	$2,872,130.69	Employment and Social Development Canada	Rental of computer equipment related to production and operations (P&O) environment – All servers, storage, printers, etc. (includes all related parts and peripherals)
2022-07-22	$344,188.05	Royal Canadian Mounted Police	Application software (including COTS) and application development and delivery software
2022-07-22	$31,157.75	National Research Council Canada	Computer equipment related to Production and Operations (P&O) environment – All servers, storage, printers, etc. (includes all related parts and peripherals)
2022-09-22	$200,135.97	Indigenous Services Canada	Computer services
2022-09-22	$17,025.64	Indigenous Services Canada	Computer services
2022-09-22	$50,176.00	Canada Energy Regulator	License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
2022-16-22	$16,388.41	Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	Client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
2022-16-22	$16,388.41	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada	Client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
2022-16-22	$540,140.00	National Defence	Other professional services not elsewhere specified
2022-21-22	$34,127.83	Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada	License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
2022-22-22	$47,161.68	Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	Application software (including COTS) and application development and delivery software
2022-22-22	$47,161.68	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada	Application software (including COTS) and application development and delivery software
2022-24-22	$24,385.99	Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages	Information technology and telecommunications consultants
2022-30-22	$10,819.75	Transport Canada	Networking Software

Microsoft Canada Inc.: December Lobbying Summary and Government Contracts Signed

Microsoft registered only two communications reports in December. Both were on the subject of ‘Privacy and Access to Information’. These meetings were with members of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). In December 2022, Microsoft signed three government contracts over $10,000. On December 1, 2022, Microsoft signed two government contracts.  One contract was with Indigenous Services Canada for work related to “computer services” for a total value of $29,229.49. The second contract was worth $151,646.00 and was signed with Canada Revenue Agency for work involving “License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)”. On December 8, 2022, Microsoft signed a large contract with Public Services and Procurement Canada worth $3,674, 127.10 also for “License/Maintenance fees for client software related to Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)”  

Communication Date	Lobbied	Subject Matter	Responsible Officer
2022-12-21	Mark Schaan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Surdas Mohit, A/Director Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Privacy and Access to Information	Chris Barry
2022-12-21	Jaxson Khan, Policy Advisor Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Privacy and Access to Information	Chris Barry