Capobianco: Municipal lobbyist registries needed in Ontario

Recent media reports involving lobbyists and the municipal government in Collingwood have highlighted once again the need to establish robust lobbyist regulatory mechanisms to ensure ethical and transparent lobbying activity. The Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC) applauds the establishment of a lobbyist registry by the Town of Collingwood in response to concerns that were at the heart of an inquiry by Justice Frank Marrocco. However, this makes Collingwood only the seventh jurisdiction to do so at the municipal level.

PAAC has long been a champion of lobbyist registries and regulations that require lobbyists to publicly disclose the nature of their work and the clients they serve. PAAC fully supports lobbying activity as a key component of the development of public policy if done transparently and in accordance with established rules.

Conflicts of interest, or the perceptions of conflict, may arise in lobbying activity from time to time. That is why many jurisdictions have established lobbyist codes of conduct in addition to registries of lobbyists that assist in the regulation of lobbying. For example, the City of Toronto and the Region of Peel have lobbyist codes of conduct that ensure lobbyists disclosure any potential conflicts between their clients/organizations and municipal politicians and officials they are meeting with. At the federal level, the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, prohibits lobbyists from knowingly supplying their clients with confidential information from government sources.

In addition, many municipalities are looking at developing their own registries and have in fact hired staff to monitor lobbying activities. PAAC fully supports the development of additional municipal lobbyist registries and codes of conduct. The vast majority of lobbyists conduct their activities ethically, transparently and in line with established rules and guidelines and welcome these moves.

Lobbying activity contributes to the development of sound public policy by providing information, analysis and the impacts of potential government decisions on businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals. This assists the government in establishing public policy that is balanced and fair. PAAC believes that lobbying is done responsibly, transparently and in accordance with regulatory requirements, plays a crucial role in ensuring government decision making is fully informed about potential courses of action, leading to more balanced outcomes.

The province could play a role in expanding lobbyist registries at the municipal level, as they do have jurisdictional control over many areas of municipalities, but the reality is that there will likely be resistance for any kind of uniformity when it comes to lobbying registries and/or codes of conduct.

If you look at the registries within Ontario alone, for lobbyists who are registered for all three orders of government, there are three distinct lobbying rules and regulations for the federal registry, the Ontario registry and the City of Toronto’s registration process.

Uniformity for lobbying rules and regulations across the board would be a welcome change for registrars and commissioners we would assume, but governments pass laws and the registrars and commissioners enforce them and so as long as that is the case there will always be different rules.

Each jurisdiction, be it provincial or municipal, will claim they have different levels of lobbying activities and concerns and will adopt rules and/or codes according to what they think works best for them.

This guest column is by John Capobianco, a registered lobbyist and past president of the Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC).