Tag

Commissioner of Lobbying

1 article

LegislationJuly 9, 20266 min read
Lobbying Ottawa Is Legal. It's Also Supposed to Leave a Paper Trail. Here's How the Registry of Lobbyists Works — and What It Misses.
Federal lobbying in Canada is governed by the Lobbying Act, which starts from the premise that lobbying is a legitimate activity — and that the public is entitled to know who is doing it. The Act requires paid lobbyists to register in the Registry of Lobbyists, a free, searchable public database administered by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. Consultant lobbyists — people paid by clients to lobby — must register each engagement. In-house lobbyists — employees of corporations and organizations — are registered by their employer's most senior paid officer once lobbying makes up a significant part of employees' duties, a threshold the Commissioner has long interpreted as roughly 20 per cent. On top of registration, lobbyists must file monthly communication reports disclosing oral, arranged communications with designated public office holders (DPOHs) — ministers, their staff, senior public servants, and, since 2010, MPs and senators — naming the official, the date, and the subject matter. Former DPOHs face a five-year ban on lobbying after leaving office. The Commissioner of Lobbying, an independent Agent of Parliament, administers the registry, enforces the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct, investigates suspected breaches, and reports findings to Parliament — but cannot levy fines, and suspected offences under the Act must be referred to police. The registry is one of the most useful accountability tools in Ottawa, but it has structural blind spots: unpaid advocacy, lobbying below the in-house threshold, and most written or informal contact never appear in the monthly reports — and the registry records that a meeting happened, never what was said.

Lobbying Ottawa Is Legal. It's Also Supposed to Leave a Paper Trail. Here's How the Registry of Lobbyists Works — and What It Misses.

Federal lobbying in Canada is governed by the Lobbying Act, which starts from the premise that lobbying is a legitimate activity — and that the public is entitled to know who is doing it. The Act requires paid lobbyists to register in the Registry of Lobbyists, a free, searchable public database administered by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. Consultant lobbyists — people paid by clients to lobby — must register each engagement. In-house lobbyists — employees of corporations and organizations — are registered by their employer's most senior paid officer once lobbying makes up a significant part of employees' duties, a threshold the Commissioner has long interpreted as roughly 20 per cent. On top of registration, lobbyists must file monthly communication reports disclosing oral, arranged communications with designated public office holders (DPOHs) — ministers, their staff, senior public servants, and, since 2010, MPs and senators — naming the official, the date, and the subject matter. Former DPOHs face a five-year ban on lobbying after leaving office. The Commissioner of Lobbying, an independent Agent of Parliament, administers the registry, enforces the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct, investigates suspected breaches, and reports findings to Parliament — but cannot levy fines, and suspected offences under the Act must be referred to police. The registry is one of the most useful accountability tools in Ottawa, but it has structural blind spots: unpaid advocacy, lobbying below the in-house threshold, and most written or informal contact never appear in the monthly reports — and the registry records that a meeting happened, never what was said.