Lobbying in Canada

On Tuesday the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada spoke at Dalhousie. And while the talk was very poorly attended, I think those of us in attendance got a pretty good sense of the lobbying regime in Canada.

For the most part, the regime was pretty underwhelming and almost seemed designed to provide blatant loopholes to allow for unreported lobbying activities. Notable problems include the requirement that companies only have to register as in-house lobbyists if they conduct a certain quantity of lobbying. Furthermore, certain types of contact, such as unarranged contact, do not have to be reported (bumping into someone in a hall or an after hours phone call can count as unarranged). Another area worth noting relates to the activities of former public office holders. While the appearance is given that these individuals are prohibited from lobbying, that is only the case if they pass a 'significant duties test.' Oh, and the Lobbying Commissioner has very little ability to enforce the Act which, in any event, doesn't prohibit 'private citizens' from communicating with MPs.

To clunkily seque to a recent development, the Bruce Carson/water contract story seems to be a particularly good example of the weakness of the regime. The current lobbying regime does not monitor the lobbying activities of an individual not employed as an in-house lobbyist or a consultant lobbyist, even if person has ties to a company that might benefit from such action.

Anyway, this story will likely provide further ammunition to those claiming that the current lobbying regime is less than effective. Oh, and a may lead to a host of other political ramifications for those involved.