The Montreal-based aerospace giant Bombardier has hired former federal Liberal cabinet minister-turned-lobbyist Don Boudria, of Hill and Knowlton strategies, to lobby a number of top government departments for federal funding.

Boudria’s lobbying registration states he’s been hired to “obtain financial support from Canada with respect to the development of aerospace policy.”

Bombardier’s public financing has been a political sticking point for the Conservatives over the company’s bailout funding package announced this year. Fuel was added to that fire with recent revelations of executive bonuses still getting paid out, despite the fact that Bombardier landed a $372.5 million loan from Ottawa, along with $1 billion from Quebec.

The company and its divisions have six other federal lobbyists currently registered and active, according to the federal lobbying registry.

Meanwhile, Loblaw Companies Ltd., which owns Shoppers Drug Mart, has hired David Rodier — also from Hill and Knowlton — to lobby on “policies relating to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and how they impact the role of pharmacists” — a description broad enough to encapsulate almost anything drug-related.

Longtime Liberal insider Marc Desmarais, of National Public Relations, picked up the Kington-based biopharmaceutical company Pnuvax as a client. They want to arrange meetings to “apprise government officials on the latest developments” in its vaccine technology and a leasing agreement with the National Research Council.

Tammy Alamrieh, also with National Public Relations, was hired by Merck Canada to “raise awareness about the prevention of a health-related infection that affects thousands of Canadians every year.”

The biotech company Stemcell Technologies Canada hired consultant Keith Serry to “engage with federal government officials on possible funding mechanisms under the Innovation Fund for the potential construction of a production facility.”

BYD USA, a Chinese-owned manufacturer of large-scale batteries, has hired NDP insider Robin Sears, from Earnscliffe Strategy, to arrange meetings “to ensure BYD’s interests are included” when setting policy priorities with other levels of government.

The City of Hamilton hired John Campbell, former head of Waterfront Toronto, to lobby about the “future disposition” of land belonging to Stelco — a Hamilton-based steel company — and funding for the land’s future development.

Recent lobbying communication reports with the Prime Minister’s Office show top policy officials chatting with: Barrick Gold, 3M Canada, Loblaw, Bell Canada, Shaw Communications, Bombardier, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Google, the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario and Discovery Air Defence, among others.

Busiest organizations

Dalhousie University: 44 meetings

West Coast Environmental Law Association: 31

Information Technology Association of Canada: 29

3M Canada: 16

University of Waterloo: 13

Busiest lobbyists

Richard Florizone, President, Dalhousie University: 44 meetings

Jessical Clogg, Executive Director and Senior Counsel, West Coast Environmental Law Association: 26

Robert Watson, President and CEO Information Technology Association of Canada: 23

Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Waterloo: 13

It was an otherwise quiet week on the lobbying front this week, with only 21 new registrations and 298 communications reported.

With files from Kirsten Smith.