OTTAWA — Beef farmers were in Ottawa more than any other farm lobby group in 2016 to meet with the federal government. Of all registered meetings between farm lobby groups and the federal government, the Canadian Cattlemen Association was the busiest with 136 meetings, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The second most frequent farm lobby group on Parliament Hill was the Canola Council of Canada with 100 meetings. Right behind canola was the Dairy Farmers of Ontario with 99 meetings.
While beef farmers were the most frequent farm lobbyists on the Hill, they ranked 13th among all lobbyists in the county.
The most frequent lobbyist was the Heart and Stroke Foundation, which met with the feds 234 times to push for a tax on sugary drinks.
Among other notable lobbyists, Bombardier, the Canadian airplane and train manufacturer, met with the federal government 120 times. The company drew public outrage earlier in the year, after its top five executives received a combined bonus of US $32.6 million while laying off thousands of employees, after receiving a $372.5 million loan from the federal government.
Canada’s largest private sector union, Unifor, met 122 times with the federal government in 2016.
