Holt government will spend $19,000 US per month lobbying Washington

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.