Lobbying & Government Relations in Alberta

Why a one-person shop

The big firms pitch you a partner, then staff your file with associates. Here, there's no one to hand you off to.

No. 1

You get the person you hired

The name on the proposal is the name in the room. The person who learns your file is the person who walks it into the building. No bait-and-switch, no juniors.

No. 2

Speed is structural

No internal approval chains. When a minister's office offers a slot at 8 a.m. on the day, the yes happens before the window closes.

No. 3

No tower on your invoice

You pay for the work, not a downtown office and a marketing department. That's why this comes in well below what a full-service firm quotes for the same file.

Cole Kander with MLA Brandon Lunty in his office — WITH MLA BRANDON LUNTY, IN HIS OFFICE

The other side of the door

One good meeting holds a door open for years. One bad one shuts it.

I've sat on the other side of that door, in Opposition and in an MP's office, watching lobbyists come and go. The bad ones show up vague, make it about themselves, and burn a busy person's afternoon. The official remembers. The door stays shut.

So we don't walk in until you know exactly what you're asking for, what that minister actually needs, and how you fit their picture. Everyone you meet walks out thinking it was the best meeting they had that week. That's the standard, and it's why the second meeting happens.

What that's worth in practice

Receipts, not logos.

12 mo

A seven-year regulatory fight, closed in twelve months

At Federated Co-operatives Limited, a regulatory change the organization had been chasing for seven years got done in 12 months. That's what knowing how the Alberta government actually moves is worth.

20+ MLAs

The largest reception in the organization's history

At the Alberta Community and Co-operative Association, the government relations function was built from nothing, then put to work. The headline event: the biggest reception the organization had ever held. The Premier came. So did more than 20 MLAs, from both sides of the House.

7 sitting

He helped elect the people you'll be meeting

Two leadership campaigns, Danielle Smith's and Erin O'Toole's, and nomination campaigns for seven people who sit in the Alberta Legislature today, several of them now ministers. Some of them will be in the rooms you're trying to get into. Relationships built before the election are the ones that answer the phone after it.

2 orgs

Government relations, from the ground up and at scale

At the Alberta Community and Co-operative Association, the government relations function was built from nothing: strategy, stakeholder maps, briefing notes, the whole architecture. At Federated Co-operatives Limited, one of Western Canada's largest companies, he then ran the file at scale. If your company has never had government relations before, that's not a problem. It's a specialty.

SECTORS WORKED

Retail Pharmacy Liquor Agriculture Finance Co-operatives Energy & power Data centres Economic development Culture & tourism Municipal affairs Yours next

Ways of working

Every mandate is custom. The shape of the work isn't.

Most files need one of three postures, and many move between them as the file heats up. The right one depends on how actively you want to shape your regulatory environment, and how quickly you want a profile with government. Scope and fees are set in a conversation, not on a rate card.

I

Watching

The regulatory environment is monitored for you, so nothing lands on your desk as a surprise. Written engagement, kept current and compliant.

Active monitoring of Alberta and federal activity
Consultations surfaced, submissions and letters drafted and filed
Lobbyist registration and a gift-and-hospitality compliance briefing

II

Working

Active lobbying on your priority files. Your profile gets built with the offices that matter, and you walk into every meeting prepared.

Outreach to MLAs, ministers, and ministry staff
Briefing notes and talking points for every government meeting
Presence at political events, strategic advice, regular reporting

III

Embedded

The full-court press. The goal: government sees you as the leader in your space and calls you when your files move, not the other way around.

A government education campaign on what you build and why it matters
Province-wide representation at political and industry events
Relationships with candidates before they're elected, when they're worth building

Every engagement is scoped and billed individually, after a conversation about the mandate. GST extra. Pre-approved hard costs are arranged and paid by you directly, never marked up. Registration under the Alberta Lobbyists Act is filed within 10 days of engagement, with you listed as the client.

The signature day

A Hill Day: one focused day at the Legislature.

A single, tightly-run day of meetings with the ministers, MLAs, and staff who shape your files, built on weeks of preparation so you walk in knowing every ask cold. Add an evening reception and get more MLAs in front of you than any meeting schedule allows.

Scoped and quoted as a single flat engagement, after a conversation about your files. One number, agreed up front. No timesheets, no hourly surprises.

Ask about a Hill Day →

01Discovery & strategy

Your business, your files, your asks. Learned properly, then turned into a clear, specific ask per office.

02Target & prepare

The political map, the target list, the outreach, the schedule. A briefing note and talking points for every meeting.

03Prep before the day

Prep sessions in the days before. Nobody walks into a meeting hearing the plan for the first time.

04The day

Meetings across the day, in every room, managing the clock and keeping each meeting on its ask. Evening reception if you want it.

05Follow up

Thank-yous, spillover meetings, and a short report: what was said, who's warm, what's next. The day is the start, not the whole thing.

This work is regulated. It runs clean.

Registration as a consultant lobbyist under the Alberta Lobbyists Act within 10 days of any engagement, with you listed as the client. Federal registration where the mandate calls for it. Contact with public office holders disclosed as the Act requires, and a briefing for your team on gift and hospitality rules, so nobody puts a foot wrong.

Lobbying inquiry

The fastest start is a conversation.

The fastest start is the form below. Walk me through your files and what you want out of government. Engaging while the rules are being written is worth far more than engaging after they're locked.

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