ARCHIVED - Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada

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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Analysis by Program Activity

Strategic Outcome

Transparency and accountability in the lobbying of public office holders contribute to confidence in the integrity of government decision-making.

Program Activity Name

Registration of Lobbyists

Financial Resources (in $000)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
2 395	2 714	2 489

Human Resources

Planned	Actual	Difference
8	8	0

Priority #1: Update the Registry and enhance its transparency.

Lobbying the federal government is a legitimate activity but it must be done in an ethical and transparent manner. The purpose of the Lobbyists Registration Act is to contribute in an important way to confidence in the integrity of government decision-making. This purpose was reinforced as the Federal Accountability Act received Royal Assent on December 12, 2006, setting the stage for a series of amendments to the Lobbyists Registration Act, to be re-named the Lobbying Act on July 2, 2008.

In order to meet the increased disclosure requirements as set out in the Lobbying Act, the ORL's immediate priority was to develop a new architecture for its Registry of Lobbyists. To this end, the Registry required major modifications to allow efficient processing of significantly larger numbers of transactions. Additional functions have also been added to improve its usability, thus contributing to increased transparency.

A three-level project management process was put in place to oversee the development of the Registry and ensure that it met its technical, operational and financial requirements.

It was estimated in the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) that the ORL could expect 7 500 active registrations processed in this reporting period. This estimation was exceeded by 321, resulting in a final count of 7 821 active registrations processed over the fiscal year.

During the 2007-2008 reporting period, the ORL completed a series of changes to the electronic Lobbyists Registration System to improve its overall efficiency and to make the approval process for registrations timelier. The ORL also implemented an automated termination process for overdue registrations, carried out development work on its internal reporting system and enhanced the Registry's administrative capabilities. These changes were made to allow the Registration Unit to focus on ensuring that submitted registrations were complete and accurate. As well, the Registry's search and sub-search capabilities and its user interface have been improved in order to facilitate the production of registration reports.

The ORL's software development team improved the registration system architecture to enable the Registry to support the expected increase in transactions with a communications log module for the monthly reporting requirements. Work was done to establish links between registrations for a particular registrant, which would improve the transparency of data contained in the Registry. The development team also made modifications to permit the automatic return of future incomplete registrations to registrants for corrections, eliminating the need for ORL staff to manually send correction requests to registrants via e-mail.

Registration results for 2007-2008 are presented in the table below. Registration results for 2006-2007 are included for comparison.

	2007-2008	2006-2007
Individual Lobbyists — active as of March 31, 2008
Consultant lobbyists	867	860
In-house lobbyists (corporations)	1 754	1 882
In-house lobbyists (organizations)	2 439	2 539
Total registered individual lobbyists, all categories	5 060	5 281
Registration — active as of March 31, 2008
Consultant lobbyists (one registration per client)	2 857	2 975
Corporations	283	313
Organizations	442	457
Total active registrations, all categories	3 582	3 745

Analysis by Program Activity

Strategic Outcome

Transparency and accountability in the lobbying of public office holders contribute to confidence in the integrity of government decision-making.

Program Activity Name

Education and Research

Financial Resources (in $000)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
899	985	881

Human Resources

Planned	Actual	Difference
8	7	(1)

Priority #2: Increase awareness of the Lobbyists Registration Act (Act) and Lobbyists' Code of Conduct (Code) requirements.

The Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists (ORL) used a variety of means to promote and foster awareness of the requirements of the Act and the Code.

Direct Communications

On a daily basis, the ORL responded to inquiries from lobbyists, the media, and the public. It provided updates to registered lobbyists via e-mail and through notices to registrants posted on its website. The ORL also organized a number of outreach and information sessions with lobbying firms and in-house lobbyists to improve the overall quality and reliability of the disclosures filed in the Registry of Lobbyists.

During the 2007-2008 reporting period, there was significant interest by registrants in the forthcoming Lobbying Act. To help them better understand their new reporting requirements, the ORL made efforts to enhance its external communications. It also upgraded its website to ensure it remained user-friendly and contained up-to-date information. For example, new sections were created for information documents, in particular, a section on the Lobbying Act. Presentations, interpretation bulletins and advisory opinions were also published on the website in preparation for the coming into force of the Lobbying Act. The ORL website is continuously updated and can be found at www.ocl-cal.gc.ca.

The ORL continued its education and enforcement initiative of sending advisory letters to lobbyists who were alleged to have conducted unregistered lobbying activities. These letters are meant to enhance the knowledge of organizations and corporations regarding the Act, to encourage them to visit the ORL's website, and to contact the Office directly for additional information on registration requirements. During the 2007-2008 reporting period, a total of 26 advisory letters were sent. This activity resulted in six respondents stating that they were not required to register and another six registering shortly after receiving an advisory letter. Although the ORL was pleased with the response rate on its advisory letters, it was felt that an increased response rate would be preferable. Changes were thus made to the letters to request that recipients now inform the ORL as to their decision of whether or not they should register.

Conferences, Learning Events and Presentations

ORL senior staff participated in several panel discussions and conferences, including the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL), as a means of sharing information and enhancing awareness of lobbying legislation. In addition, several national and international organizations, including the Canadian Study of Parliament Group and the Financial Management Institute of Canada, expressed interest in being better informed on federal Canadian lobbying issues resulting in the Registrar and senior ORL staff making presentations to them. Meetings were held with a Norwegian delegation studying the feasibility of implementing a registry in Norway, and a Chinese delegation from the Ministry of Supervision.

Media Relations

On a day-to-day basis, the ORL's communications staff responded promptly to media inquiries, directed individuals to information relevant to their inquiries, liaised with other government departments and agencies as required and attended meetings of relevant Parliamentary Committees.

During this reporting period, a good deal of media attention was directed towards various allegations of breaches of the Act as well as court proceedings. On a regular basis, the ORL responded to media inquiries and provided clarifications about ongoing investigations and administrative reviews to the extent permissible under the Act. The ORL's communications staff also provided guidance for media interviews and presentations delivered by ORL senior staff.

As expected, there was substantial media interest in the Lobbying Act. Questions relating to the Lobbying Act and to the related regulatory approval process were referred to the Treasury Board Secretariat, which, until the new regulations were published in final form, remained the primary source of information. Through its website, the ORL provided users with access to key documents related to the Lobbying Act.

Briefings for Federal Government Institutions

The ORL continued its outreach efforts within the federal government through briefings to senior management at a number of departments and other federal organizations. These sessions, provided at the institutions' request, were aimed at assisting senior staff in becoming familiar with the provisions of the Act and the Code, as well as addressing specific issues faced by those institutions regarding lobbying and interactions with lobbyists.

Dialogue with Other Jurisdictions

The ORL has continued its practice of exchanging best practices with provincial, municipal and foreign jurisdictions involved in the regulation of lobbying activities. The ORL met and shared information with officials from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Québec, Ontario, British Columbia, as well as with representatives from various U.S. jurisdictions.

Discussions were also held with officials from Alberta, the most recent Canadian province to adopt lobbying legislation. The ORL helped the City of Toronto to establish its Registry of Lobbyists by demonstrating the ORL's Lobbyists Registration System, exchanging information, and sharing best practices.

The Registrar took part in the work of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Expert Group on Conflict of Interest. In early June 2007, he co-chaired a special session on lobbying that brought together a group of officials from foreign administrations that are in charge of legislation and policy related to lobbying. The group reviewed different approaches and options for regulating lobbying and developed principles aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in relation to lobbying activities.

During this reporting period, the ORL developed a comprehensive communications and outreach strategy to ensure that the new reporting requirements of the Lobbying Act would be effectively communicated to affected parties. The ORL expected a 10% increase in its outreach activities for the period 2007-2008. This outreach goal was not only met but exceeded as the ORL increased its outreach activities from 30 to 77 in this reporting period, resulting in an increase of 156%. This increase can be explained in part by the need for the ORL to inform its various audiences of the new requirements of the Lobbying Act through its comprehensive communications and outreach strategy. For example, during 2007-2008, ORL senior staff made presentations on the Lobbying Act to 21 different audiences inside and outside of the federal public service. These audiences were comprised of lobbyists and companies representing a variety of jurisdictions. The ORL also sent out mass e-mails to lobbyists informing them of changes in the Lobbyists Registration System and providing tips about the new registration process.

Analysis by Program Activity

Strategic Outcome

Transparency and accountability in the lobbying of public office holders contribute to confidence in the integrity of government decision-making.

Program Activity Name

Reviews and Investigations under the Lobbyists Registration Act and the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct.

Financial Resources (in $000)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
1 039	899	817

Human Resources

Planned	Actual	Difference
8	7	(1)

Priority #3: Pursue enforcement of the Act and the Code and communicate the results achieved.

The Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists (ORL) validates information provided by the registered lobbyists to ensure accuracy. Allegations of non-registered activity or misconduct by lobbyists are reviewed and formal investigations are carried out when required.

The ORL continued to use the set of procedures developed in 2006-2007 to govern administrative reviews and investigations. Administrative reviews are initiated by either the ORL or complaints received from external sources alleging contraventions of the Act or the Code. An administrative review typically involves reviewing all registration files in the Registry, available correspondence and other forms of communication between the ORL and the lobbyist; and confirming with public office holders, whether registrable activities have indeed taken place.

If the Registrar determines following an administrative review that there are reasonable grounds to believe a breach of the Act has occurred, the matter is referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). If the contravention occurred outside of the Act's stipulated two-year limitation period for contraventions, the ORL may still initiate an investigation under the Code, which has no limitation period.

During the 2007-2008 reporting period, the ORL initiated 17 administrative reviews of which 16 related to possible breaches of the Act, and one related to a possible breach of the Code. Twelve of the 17 administrative reviews were initiated as a result of complaints received from external sources and five were ORL initiated.

It is impossible to predict how many external complaints the ORL will receive or how many self-initiated allegations of breaches of the Act or Code will surface in any given reporting year. Therefore, it is impossible to estimate the number of enforcement actions required to deal with them. However, it is possible to forecast the number of enforcement actions resulting from received complaints. Although no historical data existed for 2006-2007, the ORL estimated that 80% of received complaints would result in enforcement action. For the 2007-2008 reporting period, files were opened and action commenced on all complaints received. Thus, the ORL met its expected result by undertaking action on 100% of the complaints received.

As previously mentioned, one of the 17 administrative reviews dealt with a possible breach of the Code. The complaint alleged that a registered lobbyist had provided confidential information without consent. This review is ongoing.

The remaining 16 administrative reviews broke down into 14 dealing with unregistered lobbyists, one of which was completed and referred to the RCMP. The remaining two files were initiated based on allegations that registered lobbyists were in breach of the Act by filing registrations that did not include full disclosure of the members of a client coalition and public funding. At the end of the reporting period, 14 of the files remained ongoing.

In addition to the progress made on the 17 administrative reviews opened in 2007-2008, six files were closed from the previous reporting period.

A Federal Court decision rendered on March 10, 2008 questioned the Registrar's authority to investigate cases involving alleged breaches of the Lobbyists Registration Act. This resulted in the ORL suspending work on all administrative reviews pending the receipt of clearer guidance from the Federal Court regarding the ORL's ability to investigate alleged breaches of the Code in cases where the lobbyist has not registered.

Investigation under the Code

During the 2007-2008 reporting period, the Registrar did not initiate any new investigations. However, several investigations initiated in previous years remained active. Two investigation reports were finalized and forwarded to the Registrar, one of which involved a complaint by the Democracy Watch, and was opened as an investigation in 2006-2007. The Registrar shared these reports with the individuals reported upon so as to provide them a reasonable opportunity to respond in writing. As with the aforementioned suspended administrative reviews, these two cases and the active investigations have been temporarily suspended pending receipt of clearer guidance from the Federal Court regarding investigations under the Code.

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