Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, September 10, 2012

Nexen registered lobbying over, action still happening behind scenes, say Ottawa watchers

Now that the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation has officially applied to buy Calgary-based Nexen Inc. under the Investment Canada Act for more than $15-billion, there likely won’t be any lobbyist meetings with the Industry Minister or his officials during the 45-day review process, which began on Aug. 29, but there is still action going on behind the scenes, say Ottawa political watchers.

Since CNOOC’s proposed takeover of Nexen was made public in July, lobbyists for both sides were busy meeting face to face to with senior Canadian federal government officials and ministers, according to monthly communications filings with Canada’s federal lobbying commissioner. There were 17 meetings with 22 people between July 22 and Aug. 15, but because of the sensitive nature of the transaction and the secretiveness of the Investment Canada Act, the government will not want to be seen as being unduly influenced by the parties’ lobbyists, said Playbook Communications senior strategist Erik Waddell.

“Really, you need to close that door and not allow that kind of influence to come in. You might have one meeting with each of them to hear their case, maybe, but that would be up to the minister. But you need to avoid any sense that there’s that kind of influence. It is a very legal process, and because there’s often a lot at stake in the bigger deals,” Mr. Waddell told The Hill Times.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis (Mégantic-L’Érable, Que.) announced on Aug. 29 that he began the review for CNOOC’s friendly bid to buy Nexen.

Although there has been significant media interest on the file, Mr. Paradis and the government have been tight-lipped about the eventual outcome.

“You announce the review and then you close the doors and turn off the lights and have a discussion. And so, they won’t say much of anything until they’ve made a decision and the minister’s made a decision on where it is,” said Mr. Waddell, former communications director to Treasury Board president Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) when he was the Industry Minister.

The only people who know what’s going on with the file are a small group of bureaucrats at Industry Canada within the Investment Canada Act team and the deputy minister, and on the political side, Mr. Paradis, his chief of staff Marc Vallieres and potentially policy director Sophia Arvanitis. “It really is a very much need-to-know basis,” said Mr. Waddell.

Fleishman-Hillard senior vice-president John Capobianco, who lobbied for Saskatchewan’s Potash when Australia’s BHP Billiton tried to take it over, said because of the dollars involved in the CNOOC-Nexen deal and the political sensitivity of a Chinese company potentially moving in, the government will look carefully at the situation.

At any time in the 45-day review period, Mr. Paradis could announce a 30-day extension, so the decision could come as late as early November.

“I would imagine that through that process, you’ll find they’ll be talking to various departments and maybe provinces and consulting. They want to do their due diligence and get all their facts before making their recommendation,” Mr. Capobianco said. “You can’t predict it. Anybody who thinks they can predict what the government is going to do on this is silly because you know, everybody thought the Potash deal would’ve been accepted, but it wasn’t because of net benefit issues.”

Meanwhile, a consultant lobbyist, who is familiar with the foreign review process but who did not want to be named, told The Hill Times last week that despite the lack of communications filings, or face-to-face meetings, it’s still a busy file behind the scenes.

“It’s early days, but don’t kid yourself, there’s a lot of activity,” the lobbyist said. “There’s a lot of intelligence-gathering going on.”

Although the process is closed officially to lobbyists, they will still play a communications role, the lobbyist said.

“The lobbyist's role is to give the client the best advice, in terms of what they should be doing, what they should be saying and how they should be saying it. You’re not going to be front and centre on the file,” the lobbyist said, noting that players representing Nexen and CNOOC will likely be reaching out to MPs whose ridings may be affected by the deal and Parliamentary committees such as Natural Resources and Foreign Affairs. “You have to try to take their ask, what they’re asking government for and put it in the best package and align as many interests as you can.”

 The lobbyist said the difficulty in making the decision to allow the sale is a political one. “This is a very political file and chances are, the decision-makers on this process—and you can count them on one hand, or one finger—they will have not only be well-informed prior to any intervention on either side, but you know are not seeing this through the same lens as the business people. There’s a real political implication here. It’s an interesting, complicated file,” the lobbyist said, noting the government is not in a hurry to make a final decision.

“They’ll be watching it pretty closely. … It’s fraught with booby traps and sink holes. They’ve got to be careful because this isn’t even one of the bigger companies out there, right? So if they allow this, are they then setting a precedent that’s going to open the flood gates? They’ve really got to take their time and figure out all the various implications of this. They have been reaching out to China. It’s not an easy file.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) told Bloomberg Canada on Sept. 6 in Vancouver at a stop before heading to Russia for an APEC meeting, that it’s up to China to demonstrate its state-run enterprises can be trusted to play by the same rules as Canada.

“I can’t quarrel with you. I know the polling data on this,” Mr. Harper said before a business audience as the headliner at Bloomberg’s Canada-Asia Dialogue conference. “I think it’s incumbent upon the Chinese to indicate, as the relationship goes forward, their willingness to play by the same rules.”

Mr. Harper, who was preparing to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ summit in Vladivostok, Russia, also said he wants to deepen economic relations with China, but that it must be a two-way relationship, or, “win-win, to use the Chinese expression.”

Mr. Waddell, meanwhile, agreed that the approval is more of a big deal for its political implications rather than just the sale.

“One way or the other, it’s going to send a very strong signal. If the deal is shut down, it sends a strong signal to China and other foreign investors. If it’s allowed to go, it sends a different signal. It’s not to say one is don’t come to Canada and the other is buy anything you want, but it’s a very clear signal one way or the other,” he said. “I know that those officials are taking it very seriously because they know what they’re doing will be discussed and parsed for awhile. I’m sure the minister is aware of that too and will give it very serious attention when the time comes.”

Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Bea Vongdouangchanh

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