Decision 97-01

During the year under review, a complaint under the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct was received by the Office of the Ethics Counsellor¹ (the Office). This represented the first complaint received by the Office since the Code came into force on March 1, 1997. The complaint alleged that a Lobbyist had breached Rule 2 of the Code by providing inaccurate information to public office holders.

Prior to the filing of the complaint, the complainant consulted with the Office of the Ethics Counsellor in order to gain a better appreciation of the process that would be followed. During this meeting, it became evident that the allegation of a potential breach of the Code would involve an individual who was a close personal friend of the Ethics Counsellor. When informed of this, the Ethics Counsellor recused himself from the process, and measures were established to totally exclude him from involvement in the potential complaint. Subsequently, a formal complaint was filed with the Office on May 14, 1997.

Whether or not the Office had jurisdiction to proceed depended upon whether the provision of the alleged inaccurate information occurred after the Code came into force on March 1, 1997. In an attempt to establish when the alleged inaccurate information was provided, contact was made with a wide range of public office holders.

These inquiries confirmed there was no record or recollection of the alleged inaccurate information having been provided to any public office holder after March 1, 1997. It was therefore concluded that the Office had no jurisdiction to proceed further. As the Office had no reasonable grounds to demonstrate that a person had breached the Code, the complaint was dismissed.

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¹Now the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada