Receivables Management Association of Canada:
The Four Rules of Successful Government Relations
Good morning everyone. Thank you Larry for that kind introduction and congratulations to RMA on its first
conference. Judging by the turnout this morning, you are well on the way in reaching your goals.
I very much appreciate being here today and running into a number of business acquaintances last night
who I had not seen for quite some time. This month marks 20 years since I first started working for one of
RMA’s members, Collectcorp. So when Jason Brunet asked me if I would speak at your first AGM, the
answer was an immediate yes.
I trust everyone enjoyed the speaker last night, Jessie Hirsh. He truly understands where the world is going
in terms of the Internet revolution that is unfolding. And certainly a number of changes that he spoke about
are becoming greater challenges for your industry. Now if government would only keep up to those
revolutionary technological changes that our society is embracing.
Over the next 20 – 30 minutes I will compress 25 years of experience, into what I trust is a compelling
story. And like any good story, it has a compelling starting point.
The starting point for this story is a conversation over a beer and a hot dog at the annual corn roast at our
lake in the Quebec Laurentians. That conversation was with David Culver, who was then the Chairman and
CEO of Alcan aluminum. Always one to take a few minutes to mentor the next generation, David told me
about three rules Alcan’s lobbyist in Washington DC followed in defence/promotion of the interests of Alcan
and other clients.
So simple and powerful where the three rules that when I got back to the cottage, I wrote them down on
this piece of paper. These rules have stood the test of many client engagements, however, with the
passage of time and experience I have added one more.
This morning, I will quickly take you through each rule with a recent case study.
At the end, I hope to take a few minutes to open the floor up to discussion.
[RULE # 1]
So let’s get started with Rule # 1: Capitalize on the unavoidable.
•TACTIX•
Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc.
WORLD EXCHANGE PLAZA
45 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 700, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 1A4
613.566.7053 ~ hmains@tactix.ca
[NEXT SLIDE]
The Brewers Association of Canada, along with everyone else in the food/consumer sector knew that the
Minister of Health would be introducing new regulations for food labeling.
[NEXT SLIDE]
This was a regulation being promoted by Anaphylaxis Canada which would require all food products to list
all ingredients in a standardized format. The public policy objective was intended to help parents protect
their children from hidden ingredients. Laudable public policy objectives.
[NEXT SLIDE]
However, as initially drafted, the definition of food included beer. In response, Brewers went to the
government armed with three solid arguments:

Regulations harm business without actual public benefit

Everyone knows what beer is made from

Kids should not be drinking beer
Also, you might ask, who carried the message? Labatts? Molsons? Their multi-national owners?
No, the big Brewers stayed at home. It was the micro-brewers who did all the lobbying – in their MPs
constituencies – not on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Now with the Brewers’ messages in mind, I want you to watch this news clip carefully.
[NEXT SLIDE]
RUN VIDEO
Did you catch what the Minister of Health said? She repeated word for word the top line message of the
Brewers: children should not be drinking beer.
[NEXT SLIDE]
Rule # 2: Stay in with the outs.
•TACTIX•
Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc.
WORLD EXCHANGE PLAZA
45 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 700, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 1A4
613.566.7053 ~ hmains@tactix.ca
Rule # 2 is based on the premise that eventually the party that is not in power – will eventually gain power.
Now one thing I have learned over the past 25 years of working on and around Parliament Hill is that
successful politicians have very long memories. They remember those who helped them years and years
ago to get them started. That is why we have an appointed Senate!
A perfect example of rule # 2 is unfolding as we sit here this morning with the government’s decision to end
the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board.
[NEXT SLIDE]
For those of you who are not familiar with the Canadian Wheat Board, the political history can be distilled
into one key point:

It has been a long standing sore point of “Western Alienation” and has been a target of the Reform
Party since its inception in 1987.
[NEXT SLIDE]
Unfortunately for Wheat Board supporters, six years ago Stephen Harper and his Conservative Caucus
from Western Canada did not seem like much of a threat. As well, the Liberal appointed executive team of
the CWB Board did not understand how good of a memory Stephen Harper had. You see, back in the day
when Stephen Harper was with the National Citizens Coalition in Calgary and he was doing research on
the Canadian Wheat Board – they basically told him to “go away little boy, mind your own business”.
[NEXT SLIDE]
So, now they are getting “steamrolled” to borrow their term. What is truly unfortunate is that many efforts
have been made by the government, progressive farm groups and the grain industry to develop a long-term
strategy that would see the Canadian Wheat Board succeed. These efforts have fallen on deaf ears.
In spite of the CWB spending $1.4 million on an advocacy advertising campaign – one of the largest I have
ever seen – we can expect the government’s legislation to pass through the House and the Senate before
Christmas.
[NEXT SLIDE]
•TACTIX•
Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc.
WORLD EXCHANGE PLAZA
45 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 700, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 1A4
613.566.7053 ~ hmains@tactix.ca
Rule # 3: Don’t stand between the dog and the tree. Let me flash through a couple slides here so you
understand the underlying premise of this rule.
[NEXT SLIDE]
PAUSE
[NEXT SLIDE]
PAUSE
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This past provincial election campaign in September-October witnessed a united front between the federal
and provincial Liberal and Conservative parties. In instances such as this, we always advise clients to keep
a safe distance between the warring political parties – you just do not want to be caught in the cross-fire.
However, in some cases this is not always possible. In August one of our clients found themselves in this
position. There was a political imperative that they had to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Liberals
and Premier McGuinty.
On the other hand, we had to ensure that the client did not get off-side with the federal Conservatives so
we took proactive measures to protect their interests.
[NEXT SLIDE]
Those are the three rules that David Culver set out for me about many years ago. They have stood the test
of time – but I have added one more:
Rule # 4: Always keep an eye on the dog.
[NEXT SLIDE]
For the last 15 years I have had the privilege of working with the Solidarity Fund out of Quebec. It is a
fascinating approach to building and investing venture capital, and like so many things in Canada, the
model works well in Quebec, but not as well elsewhere in Canada. Our role with Solidarity Fund is to keep
an eye on ongoing developments in Ottawa that may affect their business. Every once and a while
•TACTIX•
Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc.
WORLD EXCHANGE PLAZA
45 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 700, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 1A4
613.566.7053 ~ hmains@tactix.ca
something takes place that needs to be acted upon. This includes monitoring House of Commons and
Senate Committee hearings, such as the following.
[NEXT SLIDE]
RUN VIDEO
[NEXT SLIDE]
Solidarity Fund will be appearing before the Senate Committee in two weeks to make clear to Senator
Payette what the public policy and investment successes of Solidarity Fund have been over the past 25
years:

They have built a venture capital fund of $8.2 billion

There are over 580,000 shareholders of Solidarity Fund

Over the past five years, Solidarity Fund has invested an average of $700 million/year

And all this while generating a return last year of 8.7 % with an expense ratio of only 1.5%
A pretty remarkable record that the Solidarity Fund will ensure the Senator is made aware of.
[NEXT SLIDE]
Let me know touch base on a situation a number of you will be well aware of. In the Budget 2008, the
Government announced that it was spending $123 million to in-source the collection of the Canada Student
Loans Program. When this was announced, all of us who are familiar with this program realized the long
sought goal of officials in the federal government had finally been achieved.
[NEXT SLIDE]
The finality of this decision hit home in August 2008 when advertisements for collection agents appeared
on job sites and the Ottawa Citizen.
[NEXT SLIDE]
The impact to the Private Collections industry was significant. Based on my tally from the Public Accounts
of Canada, the industry received $7.5 million in commissions in 2007.
•TACTIX•
Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc.
WORLD EXCHANGE PLAZA
45 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 700, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 1A4
613.566.7053 ~ hmains@tactix.ca
[NEXT SLIDE]
As I speak before you today, the federal Cabinet is looking at every department, every agency to find $ 4
billion in strategic and operating savings. The government has hired Deloitte Consulting – at a fee of
$90,000/day – to advise it on this mandate. My understanding is that the Cabinet Committee that is tasked
with this work is working to 9 and 10 in the evening. The results of this assessment will be announced in
the March 2012 Budget and implemented shortly afterwards. So my question to the industry, given this
strategic review, is what will it do to regain the $7.5 million in lost revenue.
[NEXT SLIDE]
So those are my four rules of successful government relations:

Capitalize on the unavoidable

Stay in with the outs

Don’t stand between the dog and the tree

Always keep your eye on the dog
[NEXT SLIDE]
However, let me leave you with a few more ideas for successful government relations with a short video.
Shannon Coombs is the president of the Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association and I dare
say one of the most successful industry leaders in Ottawa. Here are a few of Shannon’s ideas:
[NEXT SLIDE]
RUN VIDEO
[NEXT SLIDE]
In conclusion, let me leave you with the wisdom from the Wizard of Id.
[NEXT SLIDE]
Thank you. I would now be pleased to open the floor to a discussion with you.
•TACTIX•
Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc.
WORLD EXCHANGE PLAZA
45 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 700, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 1A4
613.566.7053 ~ hmains@tactix.ca