Three firms accounted for 40 per cent of Sask. consultant lobbying in 2025 - Prince Albert Daily Herald

News FacebookXLinkedinCopy URL LJI Logo Brett McKay Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Investigative Journalism Foundation From mining conglomerates to community groups and tobacco giants to conservationists, 176 organizations hired professional lobbyists to petition the Government of Saskatchewan in 2025. And while almost 50 PR firms registered to lobby on behalf of clients last year, some stand out for the volume of lobbying activity and the connections their consultants have to Saskatchewan’s government. The province’s lobbying registrar recorded 188 lobbyists in 2025, 86 of whom were in-house lobbyists who work directly for an organization or business. When it comes to consultant lobbyists, three companies dominated, representing 40 per cent of all clients who hired outside help in their bid to influence government programs and policy. Lobbying on behalf of the most organizations in 2025 was Prairie Sky Strategy, whose clients include critical minerals developer Canadian Energy Metals, Northland Power and the for-profit health-care company Clearpoint Health Network, which operates private surgical centres in Regina and Saskatoon. For many of the firm’s consultants, their abundant meetings with elected members in the legislature and executives in the offices of Crown corporations are a return to familiar territory. Kevin Doherty, senior strategy advisor for Prairie Sky, was a Saskatchewan Party MLA from 2011 to 18 and served as the vice president of corporate relations for SaskPower prior to being elected. In his decade working for the Government of Saskatchewan, Prairie Sky senior strategist Grant McLellan held several high-ranking positions as a political staffer, including chief of staff to the minister of trade and economic development, the minister of agriculture, and the minister of government relations. Before joining the firm as a strategy advisor in 2024, Darin Banadyga spent 11 years working for Saskatchewan’s government, including as the director of sport, culture and recreation. Coming in second and third for lobbying registrations last year were GSD Strategies and the Canadian Strategy Group, which lobbied on behalf of 21 and 17 clients, respectively. The Canadian Strategy Group’s lobbyists included Graham Stewart, who spent 13 years with the Government of Saskatchewan, including serving as chief of staff to Premier Scott Moe, and Cole Zawislak, who was the executive assistant to the premier until August 2022. -Advertisement-