Canadian Embassy Ramps Up Lobbying

At a time when lobbying Congress is under scrutiny as rarely before, Ottawa is not holding back. Armed with maps, statistics and sophisticated computer programs, Robertson is trying to raise awareness about Canada and how intertwined the U.S and Canadian economies are. “When you ask, ‘What does America think of Canada?’ well the short answer is, they don’t,” Robertson said. His goal is to make Canada one of the 10 most effective lobbying entities on the Hill. “There are 33,000 lobbyists who work the Hill,” he said. “The congressmen and senators … look at us as just another lobbyist. That is in a sense what I want to achieve — that we are just seen as representing an important interest from America’s perspective.” Robertson says lobbyists cannot be effective unless they knock on doors every day. For that to happen, the embassy has had to cozy up the lawmakers’ schedulers for access. The embassy throws parties for the schedulers. “We give them a first-class reception. We do this now a couple of times a year,” Robertson said. http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Business/030106_canada.html

Note: http://www.thehill.com/...