By: Brad McNeil, PhD Student (McMaster University)
Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services, ULC: November Lobbying Summary
This monthly lobbying report follows Amazon’s lobbying activity through the months of November and December 2022. This blog post is structured to present Amazon’s November 2022 lobbying communications and activities first, followed by Amazon’s December 2022 lobbying communications and activities. Lastly, this blog post provides an overview of Amazon’s government contracts valued over $10,000 that were signed in the months of November and December 2022.
Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon.com Sales and Amazon Foreign Holdings. Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services involve the sorting and distribution of customer orders in Canada. In the last month, AFS has lobbied Members of the Senate, Members of Parliament, Policy Advisors of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and Policy Advisors of Canadian Heritage (PCH) on the subject of “Broadcasting” for a total of six registered lobbying communications. Sumegha Kuma, Director of Canadian Customer Fulfillment Operations for Amazon Canada, has also registered two communications reports on the topic of “Economic Development” with Members of Parliament. Amazon Canada Fulfilment’s lobbying registration notes that it aims to “Work with government to facilitate the process of selling goods and services online and delivering them to consumers” and “to promote and support Canada’s digital economy, including ensuring the availability of a high-skilled tech workforce.”
While Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services’ lobbying profile does not explain what it specifically lobbies about related to broadcasting, this lobbying activity is likely related to Bill C-11 as Amazon hosts its own streaming service Amazon Prime. As noted in a previous monthly update, As of 2021, Amazon Prime Video has a viewership of 12.2 million in Canada.
| Communication Date | Lobbied | Subject Matter | Responsible Officer |
| 2022-11-02 | Leo Housakos, Senator Senate of Canada | Broadcasting | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-07 | Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator Senate of Canada | Broadcasting | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-10 | Lionel Fritz Adimi, Policy Advisor Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) | Broadcasting | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-14 | Pierre Paul-Hus, Member of Parlliament House of Commons | Economic Development | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-16 | Matthew Gray, Policy Advisor Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Canadian Heritage (PCH) | Broadcasting | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-21 | Gérard Deltell, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Economic Development | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-25 | Matthew Gray, Policy Advisor Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Canadian Heritage (PCH) Ron Ahluwalia, Director Of Policy Canadian Heritage (PCH) | Broadcasting | Sumegha Kumar |
| 2022-11-30 | Peter Opdam, Senior Policy Advisor Canadian Heritage (PCH) | Intellectual Property | Sumegha Kumar |
Amazon Corporate LLC: November Lobbying Summary
Amazon Corporate LLC is a subsidiary of Amazon which filled two lobbying communication reports on the subject matters of “Broadcasting,” and “Arts and Culture” for November 2022. A lobbying consultant for Amazon Corporate LLC met with Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, and on another occasion with a Policy Advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office.
| Communication Date | Lobbied | Subject Matter | Responsible Officer |
| 2022-11-07 | Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator Senate of Canada | Broadcasting, Arts and Culture | Steve Van Groningen (consultant) |
| 2022-11-10 | Fritz-Lionel Adimi, Policy Advisor Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) | Broadcasting, Arts and Culture | Steve Van Groningen (Consultant) |
Amazon Web Services: November 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”. AWS registered 17 communications reports in the month of November. Seven of these communications were on the topic of “Industry” with Members of Parliament and a Vice Chief of Defence Staff National Defence (DND). Another seven of the communications were about “Science and Technology” with Policy Advisors in various government departments such as Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Amazon Web Services also met with Members of Parliament to discuss “Privacy and Access to Information”. One communication report states that consultant Steve Van Groningen met a Policy Advisor of the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss “Broadcasting,” and “Arts and Culture.”
On December 14, 2022 Nicole Foster, AWS Inc’s Director of Global Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and Canada Public Policy, served as a witness during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI). The meeting was about “Privacy Concerns in Relation to the ArriveCAN Application.
Introduced in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government’s ArriveCAN app served as a vaccination verification and COVID-19 screening tool for travellers crossing borders. Use of ArriveCAN became mandatory for travellers in February 2021. The app collects personal data identification data like names, telephone number, address, and also vaccination status, which is then used to help public health officials enforce the government’s quarantine rules.
Privacy concerns and controversies have loomed over the ArriveCAN app. In July 2022, the government acknowledged a glitch in the app which mistakenly sent more than 10,000 vaccinated travellers a quarantine requirement notice. It took the government 12 days to notify travellers of the error . There were also reports that the app was tracking location data without user’s knowledge.
Concerns were raised about how long the information is stored and how it is shared between different government agencies. In June 2020, federal Conservatives pushed for a formal review the potential misuse of data collected and stored by ArriveCAN. In response, the Privacy Commissioner confirmed that he had no concerns related to the ArriveCAN app, but launched a new investigation a month later when the Office of the Privacy Commissioner received a privacy complaint related to ArriveCAN.
Because the Canadian Government contracted the work on developing the app with tech companies, the technology behind the app is considered proprietary information. This has frustrated the government’s attempts to learn about how the software works. When the MP’s requested information about the contractors used to develop the app, the files provided by Canada Border Services Agency were heavily redacted.
In front of the ETHI standing committee, Foster answered questions related to AWS’s involvement in the development of ArriveCAN and the app’s privacy concerns. Foster could only give the ETHI a partial understanding of the services and contract totals that Amazon was involved in for the ArriveCAN project. When asked whether Foster was satisfied with the privacy framework of the ArriveCAN app, Foster noted that decisions related to the governance of privacy are decisions for the customer – in this case the government, to make. “Our job, really, is to provide the tools to enable the customer to govern data in the way they want to govern data.” When asked how much Amazon was paid for their contracted involvement in the ArriveCAN app, Foster noted, “In the case of all our customers, we protect customer confidentiality, so we would never proactively disclose that information without customer consent. It would really be up to our customers to choose to share that information.” Such partial responses evoked the frustration from members of the ETHI Committee who questioned whether Foster was the proper Amazon representative to speak on front of the Standing Committee. These frustrations related to privacy concerns and information about government contracts may signal what Amazon has lobbied about in lobbying communications.
| Communication Date | Lobbied | Subject Matter | Responsible Officer |
| 2022-11-02 | Jaxson Khan, Policy Advisor Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-08 | Taki Sarantakis, President Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) | Economic Development | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-10 | Caitlin Szymberski , Director of Policy Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) – Kylie Phillips, Policy Advisor Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS) | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-15 | Joel Lightbound, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Industry | Naresh Raghubeer |
| 2022-11-15 | SÉBASTIEN LEMIRE, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Industry | Naresh Raghubeer |
| 2022-11-16 | Mollie Royds, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-17 | Harry Orbach-Miller, Policy Advisor and Senior Coordinator Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-17 | Colin Lalonde, Director of Policy Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-19 | Frances Allen, Vice Chief of Defence Staff National Defence (DND) | Industry | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-21 | Simon Page, Assistant Deputy Minister Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-23 | Alexandre Boulerice, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Privacy and Access to Information | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-23 | Iqwinder Gaheer, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Privacy and Access to Information | Eric Gales |
| 2022-11-23 | Alexandre Boulerice, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Industry | Kevin Bosch (Consultant) |
| 2022-11-23 | Iqwinder Gaheer, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Industry | Kevin Bosch (Consultant) |
| 2022-11-23 | Alexandre Boulerice, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Industry | Naresh Raghubeer (Consultant) |
| 2022-11-23 | Iqwinder Gaheer, Member of Parliament House of Commons | Industry | Naresh Raghubeer (Consultant) |
Amazon Web Services: December Lobbying Summary
AWS registered three communication reports for the month of December 2022 about ‘Science and Technology’, ‘Industry’, and ‘Economic Development.
| Communication Date | Lobbied | Subject Matter | Responsible Officer |
| 2022-12-05 | Colin Deacon, Senator Senate of Canada | Science and Technology | Eric Gales |
| 2022-12-06 | Mark Schaan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Peter Opdam, Senior Policy Advisor Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) | Industry | Eric Gales |
| 2022-12-12 | Paul Thompson, Deputy Minister Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Scott Jones, Associate Deputy Minister Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) | Government Procurement | Eric Gales |
Amazon’s Government Contracts Signed During November and December 2022
Amazon Web services signed three government contracts, each valued over $10,000 between the months on November and December 2022. This list was complied from content available on the Search Government Contracts over $10,000 site.
| Date of Contract | Value | Organization | Work Description |
| 2022-11-14 | $564,954.80 | Canada Revenue Agency | Computer services (includes IT solutions/deliverables as well as IT managed services |
| 2022-12-07 | $564,954.80 | National Defence | Information technology and telecommunications consultants |
| 2022-12-13 | $258,600.00 | Natural Resources Canada | Information technology and telecommunications consultants |