David Pratt, Principal of David Pratt and Associates (DPA) is very pleased to announce that the Honourable Gar Knutson, PC, LLB, MBA has joined the firm as General Counsel.
“I have known Gar for over 20 years,” said Pratt. “We served together in the governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin and we were both in Paul Martin’s first cabinet. Gar brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and deep experience to DPA”.
From 2004 to 2018, Mr. Knutson was Counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) where he led the government relations practice for the Ottawa office. His area of specialty is government relations both in Ottawa and internationally for clients ranging from the oil and gas to aerospace sectors. Mr. Knutson also acts as General Counsel for a number of embassies in Ottawa and is presently the owner of Knutson Law Professional Corp.
Mr. Knutson was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1993 through 2004 for the riding of Elgin Middlesex London. During that time, he served on a number of committees including Justice, Environment, Fisheries, Scrutiny of Regulations, Immigration and Public Accounts. Mr. Knutson also served as Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from 1999 through 2001.
In 2002, he was appointed as Secretary of State with responsibility for Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East in the Chretien Government Jean Chrétien. And in 2003, he was appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin as Minister of State for International Trade for New and Emerging Markets – promoting trade and investments with India, China and Brazil.
As part of his government relations practice, Mr. Knutson provides monthly watching briefs and political updates to clients in the aerospace and oil and gas sectors and embassies in Ottawa. He has experience guiding a non-profit corporation in a successful lobby and communications campaign to garner funding in the hundreds of millions and he has worked with Canadian cultural organizations to raise their profiles and funding.
Both Mr. Pratt and Mr. Knutson have been repeatedly listed in The Hill Times “Top 100 Lobbyists” in Canada.
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