With the budget coming, new Ministers & parliament prorogued, where does your agenda stand?

After 3 months of Parliament out of session and a state where bills need to be re-introduced, organizations need to review where they stand with the government. 70 pieces of legislation will need to be re-introduced this Spring. The coming budget will also make a time for association executives to be more vigilant than ever. Contract lobbyists can be a great benefit to any government affairs program. Larger associations can use them to handle big projects and even mentor staff. Smaller associations may find that they can gain instant access and quickly match the clout of political adversaries. To that effect, the value of legislative monitoring comes to point.

The measure of success for many association executives, like it or not, has gradually become increased member services and stronger finances. This is especially true for small associations; although their resources may be strapped, they still carry the burden of members with high expectations. Since they can't be at the legislature or on Parliament Hill and managing member services simultaneously, keeping on track of developments is a tall order. Sometimes, even one small or undetected aspect of a piece of legislation otherwise unnoticed can make a difference.

When Parliament was prorogued in late December and new Ministers were nominated thereafter, the hard work your association may have undertaken in the past may need to be repeated. The situation however may even mean that legislative monitoring will be required to take a double take on where your organization finds itself. When Parliament returns on March 3 the Harper government could introduce a motion to restart its legislative agenda right where it left off, but the Liberals say they won't necessarily support it. If this occurs, the possibility of your association going before parliament again is very high and identifying once again before legislators and their staff will require a ramp up strategy.

Start by asking yourself a simple question: What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to pass legislation, which is often a demanding job, or defeat legislation, which is typically easier? Many associations face obstacles as they seek to affect the actions of government, particularly rulemaking or administrative actions. Both the legislature and the civil service will follow specific but often very different rules.

Your success will depend largely on how relationships are managed and nurtured. Small lobbying firms such as Action Strategies should never be discounted. Our solitude often makes us nimble enough to keep up with big firms and we have usually, out of necessity, developed excellent information networks. We can also nicely round off a team of lobbyists that an issue may require and quickly become part of your team.


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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. If you have questions on how you feel your organization could benefit from legislative monitoring services or even undertaking a grassroots advocacy initiative. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca

Budget 2009: How do Associations Adjust?

Federal budget 2009 came about in early February. Unlike many other previous budgets, I believe this budget came through on a central theme: the economy, the economy and more of the economy!

Pressured by the opposition parties to adopt a number of measures to address a slagging economy, the Conservatives introduced an economic stimulus package aimed largely at boosting a number of industry sectors. While this bodes well for a number of industry associations and charities, depending on the constituency they represent, there are going to be some who will have to work harder this year to get their point across. On that point, I will return in a moment. To start however, I'll touch on a few points where certain opportunity exists.

Infrastructure: Budget 2009 accelerates and expands recent historic federal investments in infrastructure with almost $12 billion in new infrastructure stimulus funding over two years. Municipal green infrastructure is also a priority establishing amongst other opportunities, a two-year, $4-billion infrastructure Stimulus Fund that will provide funding to renew infrastructure. For those industry associations following environment and energy efficiency issues, the budget also provides $1 billion over five years for the Green Infrastructure Fund to support projects such as sustainable energy.

Environment: The budget sets out a new Clean Energy Fund that supports clean energy research development and demonstration projects, including carbon capture and storage.

Construction: Keen to stimulate more construction within the economy, the Conservatives are aiming a number of incentive programs to encourage Canadians to retrofit and renovate their homes. For some of my construction association clients, we'll be reviewing this as an indication that there's an openness towards hearing a message of the importance of the sector.

Skills training and encouraging business investment: As mentioned earlier, the budget took a decidedly economic stimulus tone. Much was mentioned on investments coming to encourage training programs and bonifying EI benefits. A lot was also mentioned in terms of encouraging further investments to release credit for businesses. If your association/ charity focuses on the unemployed or even in terms of working to support small businesses, I would say that this is a crucial time to build your links with government stakeholders.

For other notable sectors, it will be important to note a number of key example initiatives:

Forest industry associations will be interested by $170 million over two years to secure a more sustainable and competitive forest sector. Agricultural associations will be interested by a $500 million agricultural flexibility program that will help the sector adapt to pressures and improve its competitiveness. For arts related associations, a $20 million contribution over the next two years and $13 million per year thereafter will be coming to the National Arts Training Contribution Program.

For those who might not have been mentioned, do not fret!

My experience has been that while being overseen in a budget can be a set back, it nonetheless provides a chance to take a serious look at your approach to government. Consider the following checklist:

Is your argument based on fact, emotion or a solid combination of both?

Have you been effectively monitoring the tone of Ottawa over the course of the last year or more? If so, how does your cause fit within the political scene?

How will your argument help the government in reaching its objectives, not necessarily just yours?

There are ways of answering all of these questions. What's been your experience? I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment!
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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca/Action_Strategies/Newsletter.html

Tough Economic Times and the Federal Budget

It's hard to avoid hearing about the state of the current economy on TV these days without hearing about job losses and how bad things have turned. The private sector is a buzz with lay offs and in turn, the government is doing what it can to react to the situation.

However, in these times, the non-profit sector is also affected. Corporate sponsorships are either down or threatened. If they are not, some non-profit executives tell me that if they have already have locked in support, that support may be in question next year as the private sector looks for means to tighten the belt. While economic difficulties impact as well on private citizen donations in turn, research seems to show that volunteerism goes up. ...or at least the demand as well for volunteers(Click here).

On Wednesday, I sat in on an interesting discussion by Imagine Canada wherein we took up the subject of the economy, the current economic situation, and Tuesday's coming federal budget.

Having submitted a brief for consideration, Imagine Canada brings up an important point. In fact, they have a number of points:

1 .For non-profits and charities, now is the time (more than ever) for their voice to be heard before government of the direct impact they have on the economy and Canadian society. Charities need to rethink how they approach matters and become creative even within their charitable status constraints limiting their operating budget dedications of 10%.
2. For society, whether you agree with 100% of Imagine Canada's presentation, (and no, I don't agree everything proposed is right for the economy nor should everything proposed become a priority....see my personal blog at http://www.markbuzan.com) the impact of the non-profit sector and volunteerism in Canada should not be ignored.

However, regarding the latter, it seems the non-profit sector has leagues to go before its counsel is taken into account. Time will tell and we will know whether or not the charitable sector will be recognized more in federal policy. For now, it does appear as though Conservatives in Canada has the same recognition for the voluntary sector as Conservatives in the United States have traditionally demonstrated.

In the end, the onus will remain on non-profit execs to rethink their approach, become more proactive in building political ties, and understand that the best developed policies or intended programs will remain unfunded by government until they change direction.
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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca/Action_Strategies/Newsletter.html