At Northern Arc Public Affairs, our principal served as a federal Cabinet Minister and our managing partner brings nearly a decade of senior federal government experience. We help Canadian organizations advance their interests with elected officials and decision-makers at every level of government.
Northern Arc provides strategic counsel and direct engagement across three integrated workstreams. Every engagement is built around a clear objective: ensuring that when our clients' priorities reach a decision point, the groundwork is already in place.
We assess the policy and funding landscape for your organization: which programs apply, what the realistic opportunities are, and where the timing is right. You have a clear picture before we engage anyone on your behalf.
We work directly with elected officials, senior public servants, and decision-makers at every level of government relevant to your file. Our principals have represented Canada's interests at the highest levels of government. We know how decisions are made because we have been part of making them.
We coordinate strategy, applications, and engagement with a consistent narrative. Each step reinforces the others and builds cumulative momentum toward the outcomes our clients are seeking.
Kent Hehr is a former federal Cabinet Minister and the Principal of Northern Arc Public Affairs.
He served as Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities and as Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. He sat at the Cabinet table where funding decisions are approved, policy directions are set, and departmental mandates are shaped. He understands, from direct experience, how Ministers evaluate priorities, how Deputy Ministers assess files, and how decisions are made at the highest levels of the federal government.
Before entering federal politics, Kent served three terms as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the riding of Calgary-Buffalo. He practised law in Calgary and holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta.
Kent is a member of the Privy Council of Canada (P.C.) and holds the designation Hon. Kent Hehr, P.C., LL.B. He is based in Calgary, Alberta.
Abed Harb is the Managing Partner at Northern Arc Public Affairs.
He spent almost a decade in the Government of Canada, serving as Director of Operations and Senior Advisor to multiple federal Ministers, and in the Ministers' Regional Office, the hub through which all federal ministerial offices, including the Prime Minister's Office, coordinate on priorities, stakeholder relationships, and the funding and regulatory decisions that shape outcomes for businesses and communities.
Abed has directed Canada's delegations at G7, G20, and UNFAO forums.
Before entering government, he worked as a Senior Business Development Analyst focused on mergers and acquisitions at a major Calgary-based pipeline company.
Doug Holt, MBA, is a Senior Advisor to Northern Arc Public Affairs.
He served as Associate Vice President at Alberta Innovates, where he oversaw innovation funding programs and worked with technology companies across Alberta navigating government funding and commercialization.
Doug brings a distinctive combination of expertise: deep knowledge of Canadian federal and provincial funding programs alongside fluency in capital markets, debt structures, and how private financing interacts with government support. He provides strategic counsel on innovation funding, Alberta provincial programs, technology sector positioning, and the intersection of government funding with capital strategy. He is based in Alberta.
Policy intelligence and government relations analysis for Canadian organizations.
On June 22, 2026, the federal government released Canada's first comprehensive nuclear policy in a generation: two large-scale reactors under construction by 2035, up to ten by 2040, and a $2.2 billion anchor at Chalk River. The gap is not eligibility. It is positioning.
On June 11, 2026, the Prime Minister launched Canada's first-ever National Food Security Strategy, committing more than $3 billion to processing capacity, food hubs, and greenhouse production. The money is aimed at capacity, not the checkout.
On June 4, 2026, the federal government launched AI for All, pairing a $500 million Canadian Tech Growth Fund and a $1 billion AI Compute Access Fund with federal procurement positioned as a strategic anchor customer. The gap is not eligibility. It is positioning.