Holt government will spend $19,000 US per month lobbying Washington
New Brunswick hires Nashville-based firm with Republican ties to press province’s case against tariffs
The New Brunswick government will spend more than $19,000 US per month of taxpayer dollars on a Republican-connected lobbying firm to advance its case against U.S. tariffs in Washington.
The province has hired the Ingram Group, headed by a former chief of staff to a Republican senator, to help develop strategy and organize meetings with Trump administration officials, elected members of Congress and staffers.
Premier Susan Holt told CBC News she's not an expert on how Washington works, and it was essential to find a "partner" who could help the province operate effectively there.
"We want to make sure that we are focusing our time and energy on the right people, that we are getting through to them with the right messages," she said Friday morning after her return from a trip to Washington with other Canadian premiers.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Feb. 3 he would put threatened tariffs on Canadian products on hold for 30 days to see if "an economic deal" with Canada could be struck.
Holt said meetings in the U.S. capital can take months to arrange and "we don't have months, we have weeks."
"We were looking for the right partner who could get us meetings quickly, make sure we made the best use of that time and can also help with followup, because I can't spend all my time in Washington."
The contract, dated Feb. 3 and worth almost $27,000 per month in Canadian dollars, was first reported by O'Dwyer's, an American online newsletter devoted to the public relations and marketing sectors.
There's no fixed duration for the contract but it's cancelable with 30 days' notice by either party.
St. Thomas University political scientist Jamie Gillies, who studies how access to power works in the U.S., said hiring lobbyists is essential to getting things done there.
"From years of studying Washington and the way lobbying works and the way money gets accessed, it's a good idea," he said.
"It's the nature of the game. Money has always been present in Washington."
The Nashville-based Ingram Group is headed by Tom Ingram, a former chief of staff to one-time Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander.
"New Brunswick has a story to tell and an economy to protect," Ingram wrote in a letter that was part of its public filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
"Our team has extensive experience in a number of areas that could be beneficial as we work to protect New Brunswick commodities before the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration."
In a statement to CBC News, Ingram said, "our overarching goal is simple: solve problems and maximize opportunities."
The previous Liberal government of Brian Gallant hired David Wilkins, an influential South Carolina Republican and former U.S. ambassador to Canada, to lobby the first Trump administration on softwood lumber tariffs.
Wilkins billed New Brunswick $40,000 Cdn per month and got Gallant meetings with Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget and with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, among others, in 2018.
The softwood lumber tariffs remain in place, however.
The Ingram contract was subcontracted through Jordan O'Brien, a former Liberal government adviser to premiers Shawn Graham and Gallant and now a partner at the Fredericton marketing firm Porter O'Brien.
Jacqueline Durnford, a senior associate at Porter O'Brien, managed Holt's local riding campaign in Fredericton South-Silverwood.
"We reached out to Porter O'Brien because they're in our neck of the woods, to ask if they knew anybody, and they did," Holt said.
"So it was them that did the introduction and the connection to the firm in the U.S."
O'Brien turned down a request for comment.
"I would defer to my client for them to comment on our work," he said.
Ingram said in his statement that his firm has worked with Porter O'Brien for three years.
According to Ingram's public registration as a foreign agent, two lobbyists with the firm will take the lead representing New Brunswick.
Amanda Kelsey is a former staffer to Sen. Mitch McConnell and former director of government affairs for the American Conservative Union.
Brandi Lowell worked for two Democratic members of Congress from Tennessee and at the U.S. embassy in Mexico as part of its narcotics affairs section.
The $19,000 US expense is on top of New Brunswick's contribution to the $85,000 cost of hiring another Republican lobbyist to help organize meetings during the visit by Canada's premiers to Washington this week.
That expense was covered by the Council of the Federation, the organization of 13 provincial and territorial premiers.
It led to the premiers being invited to the White House to meet Trump's deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs James Blair, who said on social media afterward that "we never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
