Case Studies


Not-For-Profit Organization – Autism/Special Needs Participants

    • Goal: Providing advocacy for a small organization (and its participants) in the sector, as well as securing capital and operational funding.
    • Message: Promoting self-sufficiency and independence for its participants and for the organization through project based-funding.
      The target message: to have government help out with a “hand-up” and not a “hand-out”.
    • Action Taken: BGC developed a strategy of advocacy wherein the organization meets with relevant ministries on the political and bureaucratic level, as well as committees and advisory groups. In addition, BGC assists the organization in connecting with other relevant organizations, in order to create a stronger voice and show community partnerships.
    • Challenges: There is always a challenge in competing for project-based funding in the not-for-profit sector as there are many worthy applicants.
    • Results: The organization has received 1.5 million dollars in funding for capital and operational costs over the past 3 years.

    Plastics Manufacturing Organization

    • Goal: An investor engaged BGC in order to assist their plastics manufacturing holding, as they attempt to recover from the recent economic downturn.
    • Message: The manufacturing company had an innovative product idea and access to a large market, but was short on human resources and development funds. Assistance from the various levels of government would ensure that the company maintains its regrowth. They are a Canadian company with Canadian roots and are unique in their service and product offering in Canada. The danger was that the company would not be able to survive much longer, and therefore Ontario and Canada would lose another business and the jobs that come with it.
    • Action Taken: BGC developed a strategy and organized meetings with officials both federally, provincially and municipally to help access pockets of funding.
    • Challenges: The programs that were designed by the provincial government did not perfectly fit with the manufacturing company. Political officials needed to have many internal meetings to see how they might help. Timing was also an issue as this needed to happen in short order, if the company was to capitalize on the opportunity.
    • Results: BGC is currently helping to position the manufacturing company with government so that they are the recipients of an innovation grant that reestablishes the organization in the industry.

    Private Equity Firm

    • Goal: A Private Equity Firm retained BGC to help with healthcare-related holdings.

      The two goals:
      1. To advocate for their physiotherapy clinic holdings; and
      2. To expand the reach of their health care software in government
    • Message: This Private Equity Firm shared data regarding the possibilities of saving the Ontario government funds allotted to the health budget, based on data they acquired from across the country. The firm also shared successful methods of service delivery that are being used across the country for physiotherapy. This was in contrast to many of the companies in the industry in Ontario that were using public funding policy to abuse the healthcare system.
    • The Healthcare Software Company found problems in the general procurement process of healthcare-related software, while also indicating that their specific software can help reduce the healthcare budget. The message is to publicize the benefits of their skills so they can expand their current offerings to the Ontario Healthcare System. Are the edits I made here, correctly interpreted?
    • Action Taken: BGC created a strategy and organized meetings with political, bureaucratic, and arms-length and third-party health officials to advocate for both issues.
    • Challenges: There were no challenges regarding the physiotherapy strategy. The challenges to the software advocacy were in ensuring the current arms-length organization in charge of procurement was not adversely effected by the advocacy campaign. This needs clarification… this sounds like u mean that your job was to protect the company from making diplomatic errors in their media copy, when advertising… but not sure.
    • Results: Through an advocacy campaign, BGC was able to influence government officials on the physiotherapy industry, helping them make an informed decision on creating a major change in the way physiotherapy is delivered in Ontario. The campaign helped the physiotherapy organization garner access to much more of the market.
    • By securing meetings with key decision-makers, and helping to structure a message that would be favourable to the government’s thinking at the time, BGC was able to increase the reach of the software in government-run health agencies.

    Medical Devices Company

    • Goal: A Medical Device Company engaged BGC to help:
      1. Get approvals for usage under public health funding; and
      2. Receive public funding for a pilot project targeted at a specific population.
    • Message: The pilot project was mainly for implementing the use of a device that is revolutionary in terms of treating patients with diabetes-related issues: it save lives, promotes better health, and saves the health budget. In addition, the target population fits into the mandate of the government.
    • Action Taken: BGC developed a strategy, organized meetings with key decision-makers, and helped establish a message, so that the device is fast-tracked for coverage of usage under the public health program. BGC informed key officials at the political and bureaucratic level about the device and had meetings with arms-length organizations of the Ministry of Health.
    • Challenges: There were challenges getting the local health authorities to pilot the project due to the community involved and previous “bad-blood” between the two entities.
    • Results: The project is slated for pilot project funding for late 2015.

    Health Professional Association Advocating for Federal Policy Changes

    • Goal: Positioning their industry to have better access to patients. This meant having patients visit health professionals earlier in their cycle of injury, allowing those professionals to perform interventions that have more efficacy, long-term. This result positions the industry to show how effective it can be with the right policies in place.
    • Message: A health organization that represents 90 percent of the profession in Canada, sought to engage government regarding current policy for government employees that was costing the health care system more than it needed to, and was a barrier to quality healthcare.
    • Action Taken: BGC organized meetings with political and bureaucratic offices, arms-length organizations, insurance companies, and other relevant associations, to present the data from world organizations, as well as smaller organizations in Canada, over 2 years.
    • Challenges: Although this is a policy that made sense to everyone who heard about it, the savings to the health care system could only be charted as 25 million dollars. Our goal was to highlight that the savings being so low are not an accurate accounting of the money that will be saved in peripheral costs. Therefore, because the number is significantly higher, a political representative could attach himself or herself to the cause in order to champion it and take credit for it.
    • Result: This healthcare improvement is on the radar for amendments to policy in the 2015 renegotiation of the Employee Health Care Benefits Package.

    Drug Company Partnering with First Nation on Health Clinic

    • Goal: An Ontario-based health organization was seeking to partner with a First Nation to put a private clinic in a First Nation community.
    • Message: Putting a private clinic on a First Nation reserve would allow for the business to operate as a private healthcare provider (PHP) in Ontario, despite it being an activity that is currently covered under the public health system. This means dollars that would be spent out-of-province and country, due to an overburdened health care system, would remain in Ontario. In addition, the clinic would provide jobs for the First Nation, as well as revenue.
    • Action Taken: BGC set up meetings with the Premier’s Office, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, and both the Minister’s office and bureaucratic offices, in order to let them know that this PHP operation was going to happen in the First Nation community, and how positive it will be for Ontario.
    • Challenges: In a Liberal-led government, a private clinic is not in accordance with their messaging to voters. The challenge was in legalities. Although the clinic is perfectly legal, working with a First Nation circumvents their current policy. Our goal was to show good faith by informing government officials before the project officially started, therefore developing a relationship with them. This would avoid unpleasant and potential attempts at legal action when the project got started.
    • Result: Officials, although intrigued by the partnership and aware of the concerns from a public perspective, were supportive of the notion of a public-private partnership. The project has begun development.

    Federal Advocacy for Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes Regulation (MMPR)

    • Goal: Increasing the amount of licenses released under the new MMP Regulation.
    • Message: Based on a Freedom of Information request, the legal entity that represented several potential license holders indicated the shortfall of coverage that the Federal Government would be experiencing if they did not create a proper transition from MMAR license to the MMPR licensing structure. In addition, the goal was to show that representatives approaching government were doing so for the health of the patients that they represented, and that although there was a business aspect to the advocacy involved, its roots were based in assisting those in need.
    • Action Taken: BGC organized meetings with bureaucratic officials and political officials from Health Canada and members of the Standing Committee on Health (HESA) in the federal government to show the data regarding patient utilization in Canada.
    • Challenges: There were some political figures that had a strong opposition to the entire regulation, which meant getting their support was difficult and, for certain officials, impossible.
    • Result: Currently the MMAR licenses have not been de-licensed and are indefinitely in that position. Also, Health Canada has begun to release more licenses.

    Health Company Partnering with First Nation on Publically-Funded Clinic

    • Goal: Going outside of Ontario-based methadone clinic practice, the health company was seeking to place a clinic in a First Nation community.
    • Message: The clinic offered a holistic approach to methadone treatment with the overall goal of eliminating the dependency on substances. This is in contrast to the current model in Ontario where “harm reduction” is the philosophy. By partnering with the first nation, the health company created jobs in the community and provided the first nation with revenue from the rental of their space.
    • Action Taken: BGC organized meetings with Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care officials, both political and bureaucratic; and with officials from the Office of the Premier of Ontario. The health organization delivered their message and methodology to the government and was therein received very well. The health organization indicated that they were willing to share data on the success of the project.
    • Challenges: There were no Government Relations challenges for this project.
    • Result: The clinic has been fully operational for 10 months.

    Renewable Energy Company Breaking through Red Tape

    • Goal: To have the first truly 50/50 partnership on wind energy with a First Nation in Canada.
    • Message: The financing for the project was contingent upon all environmental assessments being completed by government officials in the bureaucracy. Bureaucratic officials were not producing the results in a timely manner and the project was in jeopardy.
    • Action Taken: BGC organized meetings with political and high-level bureaucratic officials at Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. The power company publically delivered its messaging, in order for there to be some pressure applied on the bureaucratic officials in charge of producing the assessments.
    • Challenges: There were few challenges with this government relations engagement. The only challenge was working within a short window of time.
    • Result: The project has been up and running for 1.5 years, as assessments arrived in a timely manner.

    Lab Company Advocating Rather than using Legal process to have Licenses Reinstated

    • Goal of the organization: Reinstating their lab license that was placed in abeyance.
    • Message: The health company had been paying annual fees to have their lab license remain in abeyance until which time the health company was ready to have the license reinstated. When that time came the government would not release the license. The goal was to inform officials that the license would not be used under the current system, but that they wanted the license in anticipation of new policy that will be coming down the pipe.
    • Action Taken: BGC organized meetings with political and bureaucratic officials at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care showing them that there is a legal case but that legal action is not necessary because government and the health organization are aligned in their thinking on the particular issue.
    • Challenges: The bureaucratic office was stubborn about wanting to release the license.
    • Result: The health company received an official letter indicating that the license was reinstated.