The Ottawa Citizen, 21/1/2008

t is a dauntingly technical file that involves international treaties, dips into provincial jurisdiction, and touches nearly every sector of the economy.

It is perhaps not surprising, then, that climate change is a popular topic these days on which to lobby.

Search the federal lobbyist registry and you will find 211 active registrations under "climate change." Nearly 20 industry associations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Canadian Electricity Association, have either registered on their own behalf or hired lobbyists to represent them.

The same goes for companies such as Shell, EnCana, Ford, Alcan, Dofasco, TransAlta, PepsiCo and even BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion.

Industry lobbyists say they want to ensure that politicians and officials understand how business will be affected by the government's proposed emissions regulations, which will cap the amount of greenhouse gases companies can emit.

"One of the enormous challenges on this file from the very beginning was getting people to accept that this was not 'Blame the oil and gas industry and you're going to fix all the problems'," said Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

The scope and complexity of the issue has required seemingly endless meetings with the environment and natural resources ministers of the day, bureaucrats at Environment Canada and provincial officials, said Mr. Alvarez.

Industry associations usually send their own representatives into meetings with government officials. Some also hire prominent lobbying firms such as Global Public Affairs or Hill and Knowlton.

Many of these firms are stacked with former political aides or federal bureaucrats. Global Public Affairs, for example, has one of the biggest client lists on the climate-change file. The firm's Calgary-based natural resources and environment group includes Dan Seekings, a former National Energy Board official and aide to Jake Epp, former energy minister in the Mulroney government; Tim Kennedy, who worked for Stockwell Day when Mr. Day was leader of the Canadian Alliance; and Kristin Anderson, a former aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper while he was leader of the opposition.

Despite their connections, lobbyists are employed as much for their knowledge of government decision-making and legislative procedure.

"They're not really there front and centre delivering our message," said Michael Bourque, vice-president of public affairs at the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, which employs lobbying firm Impact Public Affairs.

Early last year, a special Commons committee reviewed the government's proposed Clean Air Act, which has since been scrapped. Global Public Affairs lobbyists attended the hearings and provided daily updates to clients. "We don't pick the phone and up and say our client would like this to happen," said company president Randy Pettipas. "The reason we don't do the direct advocacy is that we can never be as expert on a client's issues as they are."

Environmentalists, some of whom register as lobbyists themselves, say the industry's efforts have been remarkably effective. They say the industry lobby was influential in the Harper government's decision last year to impose targets that require companies to reduce their emissions per unit of production, meaning overall emissions could actually rise if production increases.

"CAPP's approach to things has been very well reflected in Canadian policy," said Dale Marshall, a policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation.

Former Liberal environment minister David Anderson said industry lobbyists were successful for years at "sowing the seeds of doubt" about the science of climate change among politicians and the media. "They lost the front-line battle. Now what they're trying to do is grab the pen that writes the rules."