Application of the Act - Annual Report 1997-1998

Lobbyists Registration Act

Table of Contents

1. Purpose and Description of the Act
2. Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists
3. Electronic Filing
4. Public Registry
5. Statistical Review
6. Additional Information
7. Annex: Advisory Opinion Issued by the Registrar During 1997-1998

This is the ninth Annual Report by the Registrar on the administration of the information disclosure and public registry provisions of the Lobbyists Registration Act (R.S.C. 1985, c.44 (4th supp.) as amended by S.C. 1995, c.12). This report covers the period from April 1, 1997, to March 31, 1998.

1. Purpose and Description of the Act

   Major amendments to the Lobbyists Registration Act and the Lobbyists Registration Regulations came into force on January 31, 1996, and require lobbyists to disclose more comprehensive information about their activities.

   The Act provides for the public registration of those individuals who are paid to communicate with federal public office holders in attempts to influence government decisions, i.e. lobby. Public office holders are virtually all persons occupying an elected or appointed position in the federal government, including members of the House of Commons and the Senate and their staff, officers and employees of federal departments and agencies, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

   Four basic principles are set out in the preamble to the Act:
   • free and open access to government is an important matter of public interest;
   • lobbying public office holders is a legitimate activity;
   • it is desirable that public office holders and the general public be able to know who is attempting to influence government; and
   • the system for the registration of paid lobbyists should not impede free and open access to government.
   Lobbying, or the activity which is subject to the requirements for registration as a lobbyist, is communicating with federal public office holders, whether formally or informally, in attempts to influence:
   • the making, developing or amending of federal legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies or programs;
   • the awarding of federal grants, contributions or other financial benefits.

   The Act provides for three categories of lobbyists.

   Consultant lobbyists are individuals who, for payment, lobby on behalf of a client. Consultant lobbyists are also required to register if they undertake to arrange a meeting between their client and a public office holder, and if they lobby for the awarding of a federal contract. Consultant lobbyists may include government relations consultants, lawyers, accountants or other professional advisors who provide lobbying services for their clients.

   In-house lobbyists (corporate) are employees of corporations that carry on commercial activities for financial gain and who lobby as a significant part of their duties. These employees of a company are usually full-time officers who devote a significant part of their duties to public affairs or government relations work.

   For non-profit organizations such as associations, the senior paid officer must register as an in-house lobbyist (organizations) when one or more employees lobby federal public office holders and where the accumulated lobbying activity of all such employees would constitute a significant part of the duties of one employee.

   Specifically excluded from the registration requirements are: public proceedings before parliamentary committees or other federal bodies; submissions to a public office holder with respect to the enforcement, interpretation or application of a federal law or regulation by that official; and submissions in direct response to written requests from a public office holder for advice or comment.

   All lobbyists are required to disclose certain information within time limits specified in the Act. The information includes: the name of the client, corporate or organizational employer; the names of the parent or subsidiary companies that would benefit from the lobbying activity; the organizational members of coalition groups; the specific subject-matters lobbied; the names of the federal departments or agencies contacted; the source and amount of any government funding received; and the communication techniques used, such as grassroots lobbying. Corporations and organizations must also provide a general description of their business or activities.

   The Lobbyists Registration Regulations set out the detailed forms which lobbyists must complete and file. Lobbyists may complete and file these registration forms electronically, free of charge. The fee schedule for processing of forms submitted in paper format was published in the Canada Gazette Part I, December 16, 1995.

   Registration under the Act is the responsibility of the individual lobbyist. The Act provides severe penalties for those who fail to register or who submit false or misleading information in their registration forms. Enforcement is the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the limitation period for such proceedings is two years.

   Separately, the Act also provides for a mandatory code of conduct for lobbyists, and the submission of an Annual Report on this code. The Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, which took effect March 1, 1997, is the responsibility of the Ethics Counsellor.

   The statute provides for a review of the administration and operation of the Act by a parliamentary committee four years after the coming into force, which will be January 2000.

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2. Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists

   Responsibility for administration of the information disclosure provisions of the Act and maintenance of the public registry is assigned to a Registrar designated by the Registrar General of Canada (Minister of Industry). The Registrar heads the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists of the Office of the Ethics Counsellor.

   Under the Act, lobbyists must provide clarification of any information they submit in their registration forms in response to a request from the Registrar. The Registrar also has the authority to verify this information. All forms submitted for registration are checked for completeness and clarity. Inconsistencies or obvious omissions are communicated to the lobbyist for correction or for supplementary information.

   The Act authorizes the Registrar to issue advisory opinions and interpretation bulletins in order to provide greater certainty regarding the registration provisions. This year, an advisory opinion was revised to further clarify the requirements for registration by outside chairs and members of a corporate Board of Directors. This document is published in the Annex to this report.

   As well, consultations were held on a revised interpretation bulletin for the phrase “significant part of the duties” as it applies to in-house lobbyists (corporate) and in-house lobbyists (organizations). This revised bulletin will be finalized next year, and will expand the definition to include both a quantitative and a qualitative sense.

   All of the publications and bulletins issued on the Act, as well as those on the code of conduct for lobbyists, are available through Strategis, the Industry Canada Web site. For more information, please click on Lobbyist Registration.

   The Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists continued to provide advice about the requirements for registration to lobbyists, potential lobbyists and the general public. The Office also disseminated information on the Act and Regulations through interviews with the media, and presentations to professional and industry associations, universities and government officials.

   Federal government public office holders were reminded about the registration requirements for lobbyists and informed about the services of the registry in letters sent with the Annual Report to federal deputy ministers and Governor-in-Council appointees.

   During the year, the Registrar responded to queries about the federal lobbyists legislation from provincial government officials in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. She also continued to participate actively in the work of an international council of government administrators of ethics laws.

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3. Electronic Filing

   The legislation and regulations permit lobbyists to file their registration forms electronically, free of charge.

   This year, a totally new approach to electronic filing was implemented using the Strategis Web site, Industry Canada’s gateway to the Internet. For more information, please click on Lobbyist Registration. This user-friendly interactive technology validates basic data such as names and addresses, reminds lobbyists to complete all required information, and permits them to easily edit their own forms. Data, once verified, is moved immediately to the registry database where the general public can search for information and produce reports from their own computers.

   Of the total registrations received as of March 31, 1998, 95 percent of the consultant lobbyists actively lobbying had registered electronically, an increase of 5 percent since last year. Last year, only 60 percent of organizations had used the direct dial-up system to file their registrations electronically; this year, with the new and easier Internet technology, 90 percent of organizations filed electronically. In-house lobbyists (corporate) also increased their use of the new technology to file electronically. This year, 90 percent of the corporate lobbyists filed electronically, an increase of 14 percent since last year.

   Before lobbyists can use the computer systems to file the registration forms required by the Act, they must provide identification for system access. They must then also sign a contractual agreement acknowledging the responsibility for security of their electronic signature or password used to certify the validity of the information they submit.

   Officials from several organizations, companies and firms that do not yet have the necessary equipment used the facilities within the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists to file their registrations electronically. As well, lobbyists may use the facilities of the Industry Canada regional offices.

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4. Public Registry

   The concept of openness is one of the fundamental principles that underlie the registration system of the Lobbyists Registration Act. All information collected under this Act and its Regulations is a matter of public record. The objective of the registry is to ensure that the general public and public office holders know who is paid to attempt to influence government decisions.

   In April 1997, an enhanced registry database was made available to all Canadians through Strategis, Industry Canada’s Web site. For more information please click on Lobbyist Registration. Anyone can use their own computer to easily search and retrieve information on: who lobbies for which firms, corporations, organizations or associations; the parent and subsidiary companies or corporations that benefit from the lobbying; the organizational members of coalition groups; a general description of the activities of corporations and associations; which government departments or agencies are contacted; and the name or description of the specific legislative proposals, bills, regulations, policies, programs, grants, contributions or contracts sought.

   As well, users can produce their own summary reports of lobbyists registered as well as copies of the individual registration forms.

   Users who search and retrieve the data directly from their own computers may do so free of charge. If registry staff are requested to search and retrieve information, a service charge is applicable.

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5. Statistical Review

   Advisory and Information Services

   The Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists provides advice on the registration requirements, reminds lobbyists to update and re-file their registration forms, and verifies that all forms are consistent and complete. Although legislative and general information calls decreased this year, the number of compliance calls increased. Overall, however, calls decreased from 1362 program calls in 1996-1997 to 915 calls this year.

   The number of calls for technology assistance, however, remained basically the same as last year, even though the Office moved from a more difficult direct dial-up system for registration to an easier and more user-friendly Internet system for electronic filing. Office staff and the Industry Canada Strategis help desk personnel responded to calls for the lobbyists registry site address, navigational assistance, forgotten passwords, broken links and other technical problems. This year, there were 823 help line calls, compared to 813 calls last year.

   The key principle of the Lobbyists Registration Act, transparency, is that public office holders and the public should be able to know who is attempting to influence government. The lobbyists registry is directly accessible through Strategis to all users for searches and information retrieval on their own computers. As the year progressed, users gained their own expertise in how to directly access and search the computerized registry system and, this year, Office staff provided assistance to only 151 callers seeking information or reports, of which 31 percent were government officials.

   This year, as users refined their general browsing techniques, the number of accesses to the lobbyists registry site decreased, but there were still some 30 000 pages of text and data accessed, an impressive total for a small program.

   Subject-Matters of Lobbying Activities

   All lobbyists are required to identify the broad subject-matters of their lobbying activities from a pre-selected checklist. The following list identifies, in descending order from active registrations, the 20 subject areas most frequently identified by lobbyists in their registrations as of March 31st.

   	1996-1997	1997-1998
   Industry	1	1
   Taxation and finance	2	2
   International Trade	3	3
   Environment	4	4
   Science and technology	7	5
   Transportation	6	6
   Consumer issues	8	7
   Health	5	8
   Employment and training	10	9
   Internal trade	9	10
   Energy	12	11
   Government procurement	11	12
   Regional development	17	13
   International relations	16	14
   Intellectual property	15	15
   Labour	19	16
   Agriculture	13	17
   Financial institutions	14	18
   Telecommunications	18	19
   Small business	20	20

   Government Departments and Agencies

   All lobbyists are required to identify the names of the government departments and agencies that they contact or expect to contact in the course of their lobbying activities. The following list identifies, in descending order from active registrations, the 20 departments and agencies most frequently identified by lobbyists in their registrations as of March 31st.

   	1996-1997	1997-1998
   Industry Canada	1	1
   Finance Canada	2	2
   Foreign Affairs and International Trade	3	3
   Environment Canada	5	4
   Revenue Canada	4	5
   Transport Canada	7	6
   Health Canada	6	7
   Natural Resources Canada	8	8
   Privy Council Office	9	9
   Public Works and Government Services Canada	12	10
   Treasury Board of Canada	10	11
   Human Resources Development Canada	13	12
   Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada	11	13
   Canadian Heritage	14	14
   Fisheries and Oceans Canada	15	15
   National Defence	16	16
   Western Economic Diversification	21	17
   Canadian International Development Agency	17	18
   Indian and Northern Affairs Canada	19	19
   Justice Canada	18	20

   Registrations

   On March 31, 1998, there were 584 registered active consultant lobbyists, an increase of 20 percent from the 485 consultants registered last year. These consultants, who work for 279 firms across Canada, include government relations consultants, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals who provide lobbying services for their clients.

   On March 3l, 1998, there were 367 employees registered as lobbying the federal government on behalf of their corporate employer as a significant part of their duties. These in-house lobbyists (corporate) represented the interests of 192 corporations, an increase from the 177 corporations represented last year. Also, the senior paid officers had registered as in-house lobbyists (organizations) for 327 non-profit societies and interest groups as well as business, trade, industry, and professional organizations or associations, an increase of 10 percent since last year.

   		1996-1997	1997-1998
   Registrations Active as of March 31	Consultant Lobbyists	485	584
   	In-House Lobbyists (Corporate)	349	367
   	In-House-Lobbyists (Senior Officers)	295	322
   Lobbyists Active as of March 31	Consultant Lobbyists	1774	2012
   	In-House Lobbyists (Corporate)	380	367
   	In-House-Lobbyists (Organizations)	295	327

   The Registrar continues an active public information campaign to discuss the requirements for registration and to encourage firms, companies and associations to review their situations.

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6. Additional Information

   For the legal text of the Act and Regulations, consult:
   • Lobbyists Registration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.44 (4th supp.) as amended by S.C. 1995, c.12;
   • Lobbyists Registration Regulations, Canada Gazette Part II, December 27, 1995; and
   • Lobbyists Registration and Service Fees, Canada Gazette Part I, December 16, 1995.

   Publications available on the Internet include: the Guide to Registration, which covers the basic requirements of the Lobbyists Registration Act and contains a summary Quick Reference Guide to Registration; the advisory opinions and interpretation bulletins; an informal consolidation of the Act; previous annual reports; and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.

   The lobbyists registry data is accessible free of charge on the Internet for viewing, searching, and production of summary reports.

   Consult the following website: Lobbyist Registration
   For further information, contact:
   The Registrar
   Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists
   Office of the Ethics Counsellor
   255 Albert Street
   10^th Floor
   Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0R5
   
   Tel.: (613) 957-2760
   Fax: (613) 957-3078
   E-mail: QuestionsLobbying@orl-bdl.gc.ca

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7. Annex: Advisory Opinion Issued by the Registrar During 1997-1998

   Advisory opinions are issued by the Registrar under the authority of subsection 10(1) of the Lobbyists Registration Act.

   Boards of Directors: Application of the Act to Outside Chairs and Members

   This advisory opinion supersedes any previous opinions issued on the topic of outside directors.

   While the role of a chair or a member of a Board of Directors is generally to oversee the operations of a company or a non-profit organization, these duties can sometimes involve communications with federal public office holders in an attempt to influence government decisions.

   If the chair or member of the Board is an outside director (i.e. not an employee of the company in an employee-employer relationship) and receives remuneration beyond reimbursement of expenses, the requirement for registration as a consultant lobbyist applies to lobbying activities. Lobbying activities are those communications, whether formal or informal, with federal officials for the making, developing or amending of any federal law, regulation, policy or program, or the awarding of any federal monetary grant, contribution or other financial benefit, such as a loan. As well, registration would be required for lobbying for the awarding of any federal contract, or arranging a meeting.

   The requirement for registration under either section 6 of the Act as an in-house lobbyist (corporate) or section 7 as an in-house lobbyist (organization) may apply if the chair or member of a Board of Directors is an employee of a company or of an association or other non-profit organization.