MP says d'Aquino's been Canada's 'unofficial PM for 15 years'
by Bea Vongdouangchanh
The Hill Times, July 6, 2009
When the CCCE talks, the government listens, say lobbyists and insiders.
When former deputy prime minister John Manley takes over as president-designate and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives on Oct. 19, he will be heading one of the most powerful blue-chip lobby organizations in the country with more than $800-billion in revenues.
The CCCE has played an influential role in the country's fiscal, taxation, trade, energy, environmental, competitiveness and corporate governance issues for decades. When the CCCE talks, the government listens, say lobbyists and insiders.
Outgoing CCCE president and CEO Thomas d'Aquino was Canada's "unofficial Prime Minister for the last 15 years" because of the amount of influence the lobby organization representing the country's largest businesses had over public policy, says NDP MP Pat Martin.
Canadian Council of Chief Executives Lobby Registration
*Description of the organization's activities:*
The Canadian Council of Chief Executives is a non-partisan and not-for-profit organization and the senior voice of Canadian business on public policy issues in Canada and internationally.
*Organization's membership or classes of membership:*
Members are the chief executive officers of 150 of the largest Canadian corporations. Three ex-officio members are the elected heads of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Manufacturers And Exporters and the Conseil du Patronat du Quebec.
*Lobbyists Employed by the Organization:*
San Boutziouvis, vice-president
Thomas d'Aquino, chief executive and president
John Dillon, vice-president
Ross Laver, vice-president
David Stewart-Patterson,executive vice-president
*Policies, Programs and Regulations Lobbied*:
Employment Insurance Act
Innovation: "Policies and programs, including taxation and financing, designed to support increased research and development among Canadian corporations with respect to new technologies, as well as the commercialization of newly discovered technologies"
Goods and Services Tax
Canada-Mexico Partnership
G-8 and G-20 Summits
Trade and Environment: "Input to federal consultations on how to ensure Canada's trade agreements and trade and policies support environmentally sustainable development"
UN Convention on Climate Change
Intellectual Property Protection: "The promotion of stronger laws and regulations to ensure adequate protection of intellectual property in Canada; with respect to amendments and new regulations governing the rights of creators related to copyright, patent and trade marks, and harmonization and strengthening of intellectual property protection internationally"
Infrastructure
Income Tax Act
Canada-China Trade
Investment Canada Act
Continental Energy Policy
Corporate governance
Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
Post-secondary education
National securities regulator
Public service: "Rules and regulations governing the conduct of public servants in their relations with corporations and business associations, processes for consulting with business on the impact of new laws and regulations governing the conduct of business in Canada."
Canada Labour Code
Free Trade Agreement of the Americas
Canada Health and Social Transfer
North American Free Trade Agreement
Parliamentary reform: "Input regarding changes to rules governing Parliament; Senate reform."
Corporate social responsibility
World Trade Organization
Kyoto Protocol
Bill C-288, An Act to ensure Canada meets its global climate change obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
Canada-Japan Trade
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Fiscal and monetary policy
Notice of intent to regulate greenhouse gases and other air emissions
Lobbying Act
Canada-Jordan trade
Bill C-23, Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement .Implementation Act
North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation
Competition Policy
Bill C-257, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code
Old age security
Canada-U.S. border
Health care
Bill C-16, Environmental Enforcement Act
North American Leaders' Summit
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
Entrepreneurship
Canada-India Trade
North American Commission on Labour Cooperation
UN Commission on Sustainable Development
Cost recovery
Science and technology policy
Bill C-24, Canada-Peru Free Trade Implementation Act
Bill C-10, Budget Implementation Act 2009
Canada Business Corporations Act
Canada-Chile Trade
Constitution
Bill C-2, The Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement .Implementation Act
Internal Trade
Budget
Canadian Environmental Protection Act
Electronic Commerce
North American defence
Canada-European Union Relations
Canada Pension Plan
Competitiveness
Bill C-415, An Act to Amend the Canada Labour Code: But, lobbying insiders say it's more about the message, than the messenger.
"I think they have almost absolute control and influence. Governments dance when they say, 'dance,' and they jump when they say, 'jump,' " Mr. Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) told /The Hill Times/ last week, adding that Mr. d'Aquino, who has served as the CCCE's head since 1981 has sometimes been "arrogant and smug because he knew damn well it didn't matter a hoot what anybody, any elected official said, he was going to get his way. You cannot compete with the kind of influence the CCCE has."
Mr. Martin said that the Canadian Council of Chief Executives had a "scary amount of control over government policy, major government policies like deregulation, divesting of public interests."
The CCCE, which began in 1977 under the name the Business Council on National Issues, is a "not-for-profit, non-partisan association composed of 150 chief executive officers and entrepreneurs of leading Canadian corporations from all major sectors and regions of the country" which collectively have $3.5-trillion in assets and revenues worth $800-billion.
The CCCE's board of directors announced on June 25 that Mr. d'Aquino would end his 28-year run as the president and CEO and Mr. Manley, former Liberal deputy prime minister, would replace him---as president-designate on Oct. 19, and officially on Jan. 1, 2010.
According to his biography on the CCCE's website, Mr. d'Aquino's leadership helped "play an influential role in shaping the direction of fiscal, taxation, trade, energy, environmental, competitiveness and corporate governance policies in Canada. ... He is acknowledged as one of the private sector architects of the Canada-United States free trade initiative, the North American Free Trade Agreement and of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America."
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day (Okanagan-Coquihalla, B.C.) noted the upcoming change in CCCE's presidents in an official statement.
"I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Thomas d'Aquino for his leadership as president and chief executive of the CCCE. His contribution to public policy over the past three decades has led to positive and lasting results, both nationally and internationally. He has played a pivotal role in representing Canadian business interests. I look forward to continuing to work with him until the end of his
mandate," Mr. Day said in a statement on June 26. "The CCCE is a key association of Canada's business leaders that plays an important role in providing expert advice to policy-makers across government on a wide range of business issues, such as Canada-U.S. commercial relations and global trade and investment liberalization."
Lobbying insiders say the sheer size and demographics of the CCCE, governments should and do listen to what they have to say.
Hill and Knowlton lobbyist Don Boudria, a former Liberal MP who represented the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Ont., both in opposition and in government for 22 years, said it's "a stretch" to say the CCCE, or Mr. D'Aquino specifically was the "unofficial" government.
"Governments should listen to organizations that create most of the wealth of this country, of course they should. Obviously this organization represents just that, so what they have to say is important. They're the ones who create so many of the jobs, so certainly it would be simply wrong not to listen to what these people have to
say," Mr. Boudria said last week. "Any government that discounted what they had to say would be remiss in their duty, but that doesn't mean, of course, they're the pseudo or unofficial government. That's nonsense."
Leo Duguay, a former Progressive Conservative MP who is a government relations consultant with the Rothwell Group, said Ottawa listens to the CCCE because it represents companies that have $800-billion in revenues.
"If you take that number, it would be four times the Canadian budget so if I were in government and somebody came to me who had a credible message offering to solve problems, I'd be paying attention," Mr. Duguay said.
Moreover, Mr. Duguay said apart from the size of the organization, governments listen to the CCCE because it offers "clear, credible" solutions to various problems facing the business sector.
"I tend to think of codes, so just listen to this little code---message versus messenger, bias versus credibility, solution versus confusion. That's kind of what I think. It isn't so much the messenger, so much as the message, and it's the credibility, and it's the solutions that people offer," he said. "Every government that's been in power has listened to Tom d'Aquino because he brings a clear message of solutions that will help business run."
Another lobbyist, who wanted to remain anonymous, said for the government, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives is a "one-stop shop" for policy advice.
"They [the CCCE] look at economic systems holistically. They're sensitive to global realities. This association is probably well positioned to be a very strong strategic resource to decision makers, regardless of what stripe they are," the lobbyist said. "They do have a voice at the policy table, absolutely they do. But if you look at the organization, they're representing the creators of wealth in society for the most part."
According to its lobby registration, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives is registered to lobby the federal government on more than 60 issues from pieces of legislation to policy proposals and regulations which include everything from international trade, health care, defence, pensions, Parliamentary reform, corporate social responsibility, a private member's bill on replacement workers, and the environment among numerous others.
Mr. Boudria said the number of lobbying issues is an indication of how diverse the group is and why they are an important voice, rather than an indication of how influential and powerful they are on shaping public policy.
Mr. Martin said however that the organization has been successful because Canadian governments have been run by "the two business parties" for which "the leading business lobbyists have been playing the tune for these guys to dance."
Mr. Martin said many of Canada's laws have been designed to favour big business and the influence the council has is "bastardizing democracy" when it should be elected MPs who make the policies.
"[Former prime minister Jean] Chrétien and [former prime minister Paul] Martin and [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper, they just used their Cabinet as a focus group. They really listened to the lobbyists and met behind closed doors. That's who's really running the country, a half a dozen unelected people in the PMO, listening to Thomas d'Aquino and now John Manley, telling the country what it needs to do," Mr. Martin said. "It undermines democracy because the duly elected representatives like myself can't possibly influence the decision making nearly as much as this privileged [group]."
Mr. Duguay said there is nothing wrong with listening to a variety of opinions, especially if they are coming from a large group that represents a significant portion of the population and the economy.
"We're not talking about undue influence, we're talking about people who should be listened to, [just as] Pat Martin should be listened to," he said.
Summa Strategies vice-president Tim Powers said however that the while the CCCE is still a large voice at the public policy table, its influence has declined since its major victory in the North American Free Trade debates.
"That was their high-water mark," he said. "John Manley is a very credible guy, this will certainly help them get the attention they want. Manley's experience will also help the group how best to position themselves going forward if they want to regain the glory of the late '80s."
Mr. Powers said that the council is one of many influential business associations, for example the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, led by former Progressive Conservative defence minister Perrin Beatty, the Retail Council of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Canadian Manufacturers Association are equally influentially and "have their own degrees of heft. No one group dominates."
Moreover, he said, "Certainly with this [Conservative] government and the [former Liberal Jean] Chrétien government 'Main Street' has had arguably more success than 'Bay Street' in pushing policy. Tom d'Aquino's skill as an advocate was building a brand and the perception of a brand that allowed him to develop an aura of influence. Depending on your audience sometimes that is more important than anything else."
For his part, Mr. Martin said he fears under Mr. Manley, the group will target pensions in a negative way. "I think they've got pensions in their cross hairs and god help Canadian workers if we let them succeed," he said. "They've pretty much declared war on pensions already. In the auto crisis they tried to vilify the very notion of pensions, calling them 'legacy costs' and blaming greedy pensioners for management's own sloth and ineptitude. I think that this is likely one of Manley's key marching orders as new head honcho of the CCCE."
Others, such as the lobbying insider who did not want to be named, said Mr. Manley is an "inspired choice" to lead the organization.
bvongdou@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
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