TORIES PAY U.S. LOBBYISTS $2M
KEYSTONE PIPELINE DRIVES PUSH FOR INFLUENCE IN WASHINGTON
As Canada presses the Obama administration to approve the Keystone XL project, the Alberta government has spent more than $2 million on U.S. lobbyists since 2008 on key issues such as the oil pipeline — although the flow of provincial money has dried up this year.
According to government records, the province has paid $2,126,168 to firms registered as lobbyists with the United States government since Calgary-based TransCanada made its application five years ago for approval of the Keystone pipeline.
The $5.4-billion line would run from the Alberta oilsands to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Not all the lobbying efforts have been around the project — trade irritants around cattle and softwood lumber have also been in play — although the government’s efforts to open new energy markets and defend its environmental record around the oilsands have been a primary concern.
Alberta currently has no lobbying firms under contract, but International and Intergovernmental Relations Minister Cal Dallas said that is no judgment on their effectiveness.
The province believes the money that goes to such firms is well-spent in Washington’s “very different” political environment, he said in an interview.
“It’s very complicated, there’s a lot of moving parts between Congress, between the Senate, between the State Department, between the many different agencies that are involved in some of the political processes we work on,” said Dallas.
“It requires somewhat of a different tool box than the kinds of things that we do here at home.”
During the first six months of this fiscal year, Alberta paid $20,047 to the firm Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough, and another $74,000 to MehlmanVogel Castagnetti, according to the province’s official record of financial payments.
Another firm, Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications, signed a contract worth more than $125,000 last year, but payment has not yet been publicly recorded by the province.
The government’s blue books show Nelson Mullins was paid $1,042,993 between 2009 and 2013. The U.S. firms DLA Piper and PD Frazer received $571,496 and $408,270 respectively between 2008-09 and 2011-11.
Yet the fate of the Keystone project, which has been targeted by environmental organizations as a linchpin for greater oilsands development, itself remains uncertain.
Project proponents were heartened last month when a State Department report found it would not significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions because oilsands expansion would occur in any case.
But on Wednesday, a court decision overturned the Nebraska law that allowed for the line to be routed through the state, leading to new uncertainty.
At the summit this week of the leaders of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, President Barack Obama — who will ultimately make the decision on whether Keystone goes ahead — made no promises and said the pipeline will “proceed along the path that’s already been set for it.”
In Alberta, Dallas said the government is primarily paying for communications, political advice and technical expertise, not for lobbyists to directly pitch Alberta’s case to lawmakers and officials.
And, in fact, Alberta’s spending on lobby firms comes on top of the $1 million annual budget for the province’s office in Washington D.C. and the running tally for official visits by Premier Alison Redford and other cabinet ministers.
Redford — who has travelled to Washington with Keystone on her mind five times since taking office in 2011 — said the government is prepared to take its cue from Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, on whether further lobbying efforts are needed.
“As he is watching this file, if he believes there is a role for either me or my ministers to be part of an ongoing discussion, then we’re happy to do that,” she told reporters earlier this week.
The debate over Keystone is a battle full of loud voices and big money, with industry, labour and activist groups pouring resources into the campaign.
With mid-term elections gearing up for 2014, anti-Keystone billionaire Tom Steyer is expected to put $100 million into individual races to make climate change an issue.
David Tamasi, senior vice-president with Rasky Baerlein, said he understands it’s difficult for Albertans to gauge the effectiveness of its lobbying dollars, but the province needs to have a voice in the fight.
“Doing nothing is not an option, particularly now when so much of this is defined online. ” he said in an interview.
“You’ve got to be engaged in the process, you’ve got to be continuously educating people about what your point of view is and, you know, this is a fluid situation.”
But opposition parties said the government appears to have gained little from its efforts in Washington.
Liberal MLA Kent Hehr said Alberta’s lobbying has engaged in a public relations exercise south of the border without making the concrete policy changes around greenhouse gas emissions that might make an actual difference in Washington.
“At this point in time, given that they have barely moved the meter, one has to say it’s been an epic failure on behalf of our governments, both provincial and federal,” said Hehr.