When Ottawa mayoral candidate Alex Lawson recently accused incumbent Mark Sutcliffe of having a “cozy relationship” with a government relations firm, his complaint focused in part on allegations of unregistered lobbying.
But CBC News has learned that Lawson himself previously sent emails to several city councillors without registering the communications. In January 2025, Lawson asked them for help to set up a training academy for residential construction, an industry in which he’s involved as the owner of a home framing company.
Asked why he didn’t file a return with the lobbyist registry, his response was simple:
“You register lobbying,” he said in an interview. “Lobbying is when you have a paid client. It wasn’t lobbying, so it didn’t need to be registered.”
Lobbying experts that CBC consulted took differing positions on that, with one saying it’s a complicated question and two others saying Lawson should have registered.
“The person who wrote this email is clearly trying to strike a deal with the city outside a normal process, and they’re doing that for their own business,” said Stéphane Émard-Chabot, a former city councillor and retired municipal lawyer. “That’s lobbying.”
Lawson began the emails by introducing himself as the owner of Capital Framers Inc., a residential construction contractor. They call labour shortages in the industry “the single biggest factor hindering our success.”
“Now the ask,” he writes. “I am optimistic that the city currently possesses parcels or buildings that are under utilized in areas that would be a perfect location for the new Ottawa Residential Training Academy.”
He asks the councillors for meetings to discuss purchasing land, entering into a long-term lease or finding other partnerships to train builders and address housing affordability.
He also made an argument for why such a facility was needed, requested their support and asked them to pass the request along or bring the matter up with colleagues.
Yet there is no entry in the city’s lobbyist registry that reveals the training centre emails. Lawson was registered as a lobbyist, but only on the matter of seasonal load restrictions for concrete.
CBC filed a freedom of information request for the emails, but was able to obtain two copies informally from Rideau-Jock Coun. David Brown and Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill, who both received them from Lawson in mid-January 2025.
Hill said he has notified lobbyist registrar and integrity commissioner Karen Shepherd of the matter.
‘I was working for the people of Ottawa’
City bylaws require lobbyists to file a return reporting any specific lobbying communications within 15 business days. It defines lobbying as communications by someone who is paid or represents a business or financial interest, and who try to influence legislative action or the outcome of any council or staff decision.
The bylaw puts the onus for registering communications on the lobbyist, not on the official being lobbied.
In June, Lawson filed a complaint with Shepherd alleging that Syntax Strategic had engaged in unregistered lobbying by emailing the mayor’s office to arrange his appearance at a hotel opening and to provide a list of businesses for him to visit in Carp. Shepherd closed that case last month without making any such finding and imposed no sanctions.
But Lawson argues that his own emails don’t meet the bar, because he said he wasn’t representing anyone — he was sharing his own views about the need for the centre. He said it would benefit his industry, but also the city as a whole.
“The interest that I was representing was of the people that need more houses in Ottawa and the youth that need great careers in the construction trades,” he told CBC.
“I saw a problem in the industry and I tried to fix it. I was working for the people in Ottawa who need jobs and places to live. I was not paid by anyone to do this work.”
In the emails, Lawson also notes that he works “professionally in government relations.” He said he works closely with groups like the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) and the Catholic and public school boards, as well as other builders and stakeholders.
To send his emails, Lawson used an address with the domain name of lobbying firm Political Intelligence and identified himself as a senior associate with the company in his email signature. Political Intelligence was co-founded by Lawson’s half-brother and campaign manager Emrys Graefe and his campaign chair Quito Maggi.
Lawson told CBC that he only used his Political Intelligence email because he “knew that no one at city hall would take a carpenter seriously.”
Graefe added that Lawson was not collecting a salary from Political Intelligence at the time, and that as a senior associate he would only receive a share of the revenue for the files he worked on.
He denied that Political Intelligence has had any clients that would have benefitted from a training centre, and said that the firm has never lobbied the City of Ottawa for any client. There is only a single meeting on the city registry, a meet-and-greet with the mayor’s office.
GOHBA executive director Jason Burggraaf told CBC that his organization has never engaged Lawson or Political Intelligence to do anything on its behalf, though it did have conversations with Lawson about training.
Lawson told CBC that none of the meetings he requested with city councillors actually happened.
Lawyer calls matter ‘quite complex’
The lobbying experts who spoke with CBC suggested that Lawson’s role as the owner of a construction company might be more relevant than his lobbying job.
Kai Olson, a partner with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP who specializes in political law, agreed with Lawson that the “critical element” is whether there was payment and whether the communication was made on behalf of a client.
But that critical element applies to “consultant lobbyists,” a category that would cover professionals at firms like Political Intelligence. The bylaw also mentions “voluntary unpaid lobbyists,” though Olson said an email would still only be lobbying on that score if it were made on behalf of some organization.
While the emails do say he is “working together with several partners,” Lawson denies he was representing a client.
Finally, there are “in-house lobbyists” who lobby on behalf of their own businesses. Lawson notes that he is the owner of a construction company in the emails, though Olson said that could be by way of background, and said it’s still a complicated matter.
“It’s about who this communication is on behalf of,” he said. “This is quite complex.”
Émard-Chabot, who has done integrity work for municipal clients, put it more simply: He said it looks like Lawson crossed a line into dangerous territory and should have registered.
“The definition of lobbying is pretty clear. It’s any attempt by essentially anyone, including a person for their own business, to influence municipal decisions outside of standard processes,” he said.
“If I try to influence a member of council to make a decision that benefits me or my business, that is lobbying. There’s no doubt there.”
He said Lawson presents himself as the owner of the business and makes a clear request. In his view, the issue of payment is irrelevant.
“Anybody who lobbies on behalf of their own business is clearly not going to write themselves a cheque,” he said. “The elements of the bylaw, can you tick them off on the checklist? I think so.”
While Graefe maintained that simply asking for a meeting is not lobbying, Émard-Chabot said the emails do more than that. “The email clearly has substance,” he said.
Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher agreed with Émard-Chabot. He said Lawson would have received an indirect or perceived benefit from the training centre.
“My opinion is that Alexander Lawson was lobbying as defined in Ottawa’s bylaw and should have registered,” he said.