ETHI Committee Report

New Democratic Party Supplementary Report on the Statutory Review of the Lobbying Act by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

While we support the overall recommendations of the Committee report, the New Democratic Party believes the government has failed to address some key aspects of lobbying reform. It should be noted that during this Study, the witness list was restricted such that Guy Giorno, former Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, called it “larded with consultant lobbyists who have a biased point of view”[1]. Most importantly, attempts to bring the RCMP before the Committee were thwarted by the government members.

This has left a serious black hole in terms of understanding and addressing the adequacy of enforcement measures under the present version of the Lobbying Act. We believe that a robust review with public consultations must still be undertaken to adequately strengthen the Act.

New Democrats support Canadians’ right to free and open access to their elected officials. However, we have seen too many examples of well-connected insiders using loopholes in the Lobbying Act to gain special access to the halls of power.

The New Democratic Party makes the following additional recommendations:

The Lobbying Commissioner must be empowered to continue investigations that have been handed over to the RCMP.

Under the present Act, the Lobbying Commissioner must turn serious breaches over to the RCMP and then is unable to follow through on the investigation while it is under the domain of the RCMP. And yet, the RCMP has never followed through with charges in any of the cases that have been referred to them.

We believe that the lack of action on the part of the RCMP creates a false impression that no breaches of the Act have occurred.

We remain deeply concerned that the Conservative members on the Committee obstructed attempts to hear testimony from the RCMP regarding their interpretation of the Lobbying Act and their failure to follow through with charges in any of the cases that have been forward to them.

Consultant lobbyists must report the ultimate client of their lobbying in their monthly communications reports, not the firm for which they work.

We support the Lobbying Commissioner’s recommendation to improve the transparency regarding who is paying the lobbyist. The commissioner explained before the Committee that “… the Act requires them to list their client, the person benefiting. Some were initially putting the lobbying firm, but the lobbying firm is not the ultimate beneficiary; it's the gas company or something behind them that hired the lobbying firm...my suggestion is that the requirement be there.”[2]

Enshrine immunity provisions for the Commissioner of Lobbying and her delegates as found in Sections 18.1 and 2 of the Auditor-General Act and other Acts.

Freedom to conduct an impartial investigation without fear of litigious reprisals is essential to protect the Commissioner of Lobbying and staff. Commissioners with investigative powers in other federal and provincial jurisdictions enjoy such protection. For example, the Lobbying Commissioner in Quebec is protected by the Act respecting public inquiry commissions (chapter C-37).

The Commissioner testified that she believes that “it is important that the Act be amended to include provisions that would offer the Commissioner or any person acting on my behalf some degree of immunity against criminal or civil proceedings, libel, or slander.”[3]

Bruce Bergen, Senior Counsel, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, stated:

“We noted that in essentially each and every one—the Auditor General Act, the Conflict of Interest Act, the Privacy Act, the Access to Information Act, and so on — there was an immunity provision, and that was lacking in the Lobbying Act.”[4]

The Commissioner of Lobbying must retain a formal mandate to educate lobbyists, public office holders, and the public about the Canada’s lobbying rules and regulations.

New Democrats support the Commissioner’s recommendation to retain an explicit mandate to educate in the legislation.

In her recent report, the Commissioner noted education efforts have increased awareness, resulting in improved registration and voluntary disclosure of possible breaches to the Act.   

The Commissioner testified that “… education, to me, is key in ensuring compliance. The only way to comply is if you actually know what the rules and responsibilities are.”[5]

These concerns were echoed by Jim Patrick of the Government Relations Institute of Canada (GRIC), who told the Committee that “…the Commissioner's duty to educate public office holders should be more comprehensive.”[6]

A list of all DPOHs must be maintained online by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying so as to avoid any confusion.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario recommended that a list of Designated Public Office Holders should be maintained on the website of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. A public list would provide clarity and enhance compliance with the Act by assisting organizations identify which contacts they must report.

This would help with compliance and with ensuring that lobbyists were given greater tools to follow the Act.