Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada
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Application of the Act - Annual Report 1990-1991
For the year ended March 31, 1991.
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Table of Content
- Purpose and Description of the Act
- Registry Activity
- Statistical Review
- Compliance
- Information Requests
June 11, 1991
The Honourable Pierre Blais, P.C., M.P.
Registrar General of Canada
House of Commons, Room 448
Confederation Building
Ottawa, Ontario
KIA OA6
Dear Sir:
I have the honour to present to you the second Annual Report on the administration of the Lobbyists Registration Act in accordance with the provisions of subsection 110) of the Act. The report covers the fiscal year ending March 31, 1991
Yours sincerely,
Corinne MacLaurin
Registrar
This is the second Annual Report on the administration of the Lobbyists Registration Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.)). This report covers the period from April 1, 1990 to March 31, 1991.
1. Purpose and Description of the Act
The purpose of the Lobbyists Registration Act, as recited in its preamble, is to bring transparency to the activities of paid lobbyists without impeding free and open access to government. The Act accomplishes this purpose by requiring that individuals who, for pay, engage in certain lobbying activities, register so that the public, as well as those holding public office, can be aware of who they are and on whose behalf they are lobbying.
The Act distinguishes between two types oflobbyists: Tier I and Tier II. A Tier I lobbyist is an individual who, for payment and on behalf of a client, undertakes to arrange a meeting with a public office holder or to communicate with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the development, making or amendment of any federal law, regulation, policy or program or the award of any federal monetary grant or the award of any federal contract. "Public officer holder" means any officer or employee of Her Majesty in right of canada and includes virtually everyone occupying a position in the federal government.
Tier I lobbyists (sometimes referred to as "professionallobbyists") must file one registration for each of their undertakings to lobby on behalf of a client. These lobbyists are required to disclose their clients, and if the client is a corporation, the parents and subsidiaries of that corporation. They are also required to disclose the subject-matter of their undertaking. Tier I lobbyists must register within 10 days of commencing their lobbying activity.
A Tier II lobbyist is an individual who, on behalf of an employer, communicates as a significant part of his or her duties with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the same type of activities as apply to Tier I lobbyists, except for the awarding of contracts.
Tier II lobbyists (sometimes referred to as "employee lobbyists") are required to register annually, providing their name and the name and address of their employer. These lobbyists must register within two months of assuming their duties and must renew their registration before the end of February each year.
The Lobbyists Registration Regulations set out the manner and form of the returns to be filed and the applicable fees for services provided by the Registry of Lobbyists. Registration forms for Tier I and Tier II lobbyists are reproduced in the Annex [PDF Format, 429Kb].
Responsibility for the administration of the Act is assigned to a registrar who is appointed by the Registrar General of Canada and who is required to establish and maintain a public Registry of Lobbyists.
The Act was proclaimed in force on September 30, 1989. There is a provision after three years for a comprehensive review of the administration and operation of the Act by a parliamentary committee.
2. Registry Activity
For administrative purposes, the Registry of Lobbyists is established within the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs as the Lobbyists Registration Branch.
In 1990-91, the Lobbyists Registration Branch had an indeterminate allocation of four person-years. One and one-half additional person-years were required to provide service and to develop and implement a consistent approach to the interpretation of the legislation. The Branch expenditures were $315 000, including salaries and operating costs.
The Branch provides advisory assistance to potential lobbyists, public office holders, and the general public with respect to filing requirements under the Act and the Regulations. It also disseminates information by a variety of other means, including distributing information packages, corresponding with potential lobbyists, providing interviews to the media, and giving presentations to professional associations and federal government officials.
Public office holders were reminded about the registration requirements for lobbyists, and informed about the services of the Registry, in letters sent with the 1989-90 Annual Report to federal cabinet ministers and other members of Parliament, federal deputy ministers and Governor in Council appointees.
Branch staff review the returns submitted for registration. Information is checked for completeness, and inconsistencies or obvious omissions are communicated to the lobbyist for correction or for supplementary information. Ashort instruction guide to completing the registration forms was produced during the year, and will be included in the information packages sent to potential new registrants.
The Registry's computer system stores optically-scanned images of the registration forms, and is combined with a database capacity for producing reports by registrant, employer or client names. Branch staff maintain the system, and assist members of the general public and public office holders to obtain information from this Registry. The Registry is also set up to be self-operational, and users may search all information in the database, view individual registration returns on computer terminals, and print copies of the documents with little or no assistance from Branch personnel.
In April 1990, the Branch worked with the Parliamentary Exchanges and Protocol Directorate of Parliament, participating in three days of meetings with six members of Parliament from the United Kingdom who were studying the Canadian lobbying legislation and supporting systems. As well, in January 1991, the Branch held in-depth information sessions on the Lobbyists Registration Act for representatives of the United States General Accounting Office who were reviewing the U.S. law on foreign agent lobbyists registration.
3. Statistical Review
Registrations
In 1990-91, a total of 7 798 transactions were processed. Table 1 provides data on the numbers of new returns processed. Last fiscal year, Tier II (employee) lobbyists registered when the Act was proclaimed in September 1989, and renewed their registrations by the end of February as required by the law. Amendments include changes to existing returns as well as notifications of termination of lobbying activity.
The number of registrations and lobbyists represent the total active population on March 31 . At the end of the 1990-91 fiscal year, there were 658 active Tier I lobbyists registered, an increase of 41 percent over the previous year. Tier II lobbyists increased by 3 percent over the same period, to 2 182.
| 1989-1990 | 1990-1991 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Registrations Processed between April 1 and March 31 |
|||
| Tier I | 2 099 | 1 547 | |
| Tier II | 4 122 | 2 556 | |
| Amendments | 2 140 | 3 695 | |
| 8 361 | 7 798 | ||
| Registrations Active on March 31 | |||
| Tier I | 2 016 | 2 878 | |
| Tier II | 2 179 | 2 249 | |
| 4 195 | 5 127 | ||
| Lobbyists Active on March 31 | |||
| Tier I | 464 | 658 | |
| Tier II | 2 111 | 2 182 | |
| 2 575 | 2 840 | ||
Subject-Matter of Tier I Lobbying Undertakings
Tier I lobbyists are required to disclose the subject-matter of their lobbying undertakings. The registration form lists 52 general subject-matter categories. Table 2 provides a ranking of the various subject areas and indicates the frequency with which each was identified in all active Tier I registrations filed through March 31, 1991. Comparative data is provided for last year.
| 1989-1990 | 1990-1991 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of Activity | Frequency | Rank | Frequency | Rank |
| International Trade | 2 095 | 1 | 2 751 | 1 |
| Government Procurement | 1 952 | 4 | 2 716 | 2 |
| Industry | 2 022 | 3 | 2 714 | 3 |
| Regional Economic Development | 2 042 | 2 | 2 529 | 4 |
| Science and Technology | 1 745 | 5 | 2 213 | 5 |
| Taxation | 1 328 | 12 | 2 075 | 6 |
| Corporate Affairs | 1 667 | 6 | 2 060 | 7 |
| Investment | 1 504 | 7 | 2 013 | 8 |
| Environment | 1 387 | 10 | 1 826 | 9 |
| Transportation | 1 483 | 9 | 1 729 | 10 |
| Consumer Issues | 1 501 | 8 | 1763 | 11 |
| Federal-Provincial Relations | 1 363 | 11 | 1492 | 12 |
| Communications | 1 218 | 13 | 1 349 | 13 |
| Foreign Affairs | 1 039 | 16 | 1 337 | 14 |
| Defence | 1 167 | 14 | 1 316 | 15 |
| Intellectual Property | 1 000 | 17 | 1 288 | 16 |
| Health | 973 | 18 | 1 144 | 17 |
| Financial Institutions | 809 | 20 | 1 127 | 18 |
| Employment | 1 068 | 15 | 1 064 | 19 |
| Energy | 750 | 22 | 1 041 | 20 |
| Small Business | 753 | 21 | 939 | 21 |
| Public Works | 840 | 19 | 862 | 22 |
| Privatization | 749 | 23 | 857 | 23 |
| Fiscal and Monetary Policy | 624 | 27 | 702 | 24 |
| Public Safety | 632 | 26 | 665 | 25 |
| Agriculture | 542 | 29 | 642 | 26 |
| Labour | 562 | 28 | 842 | 27 |
| International Development | 724 | 24 | 610 | 28 |
| Natural Resources | 497 | 34 | 589 | 29 |
| Fisheries and Oceans | 635 | 25 | 580 | 30 |
| Immigration | 419 | 37 | 572 | 31 |
| Social Policy | 520 | 32 | 571 | 32 |
| Administration of Justice | 214 | 43 | 527 | 33 |
| Tourism | 516 | 33 | 526 | 34 |
| Aboriginal Affairs | 310 | 39 | 524 | 35 |
| Youth Issues | 542 | 30 | 494 | 36 |
| Arts and Culture | 388 | 38 | 490 | 37 |
| Post-secondary Education | 527 | 31 | 463 | 38 |
| Postal services | 420 | 36 | 422 | 39 |
| Women's Issues | 472 | 35 | 416 | 40 |
| Housing | 251 | 42 | 288 | 41 |
| Forestry | 290 | 40 | 282 | 42 |
| Mining | 261 | 41 | 261 | 43 |
| Criminal Law | 210 | 44 | 218 | 44 |
| Citizenship | 200 | 45 | 209 | 45 |
| Other | 139 | 47 | 158 | 46 |
| Senior Citizen Issues | 155 | 46 | 139 | 47 |
| Amateur Sports | 103 | 49 | 137 | 48 |
| Human Rights | 67 | 50 | 123 | 49 |
| Veterans Affairs | 118 | 48 | 106 | 50 |
| Parole and Penitentiaries | 45 | 51 | 75 | 51 |
| Multiculturalism | 22 | 52 | 68 | 52 |
Types of Tier I Lobbying Activities
Tier I lobbyists are also required to disclose the type of lobbying activity involved. Seven types of activity are identified on the registration form. Table 3 shows the frequency with which each was identified in all active registrations filed through March 31, 1991. Comparative data is provided for the previous year.
| 1989-1990 | 1990-1991 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of Activity | Frequency | Rank | Frequency | Rank |
| Communicating with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the development or amendment of a policy or program of the Government of Canada | 10 260 | 1 | 12 295 | 1 |
| Communicating with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the making or amending of any regulation within the meaning of the Statutozy Instruments Act | 7 966 | 2 | 8 046 | 2 |
| Communicating with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the awarding of army contract by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada | 5 599 | 3 | 7 853 | 3 |
| Arranging a meeting with a public office holder | 4 891 | 5 | 6 582 | 4 |
| Communicating with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the awarding of any monetary grant or contribution or any other financial benefit by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada | 5 164 | 4 | 6 340 | 5 |
| Communicating with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the development of a legislative proposal by the Government of Canada or by a member of the Senate or the House of Commons | 4 048 | 6 | 4 829 | 6 |
| Communicating with a public office holder in an attempt to influence the introduction, passage, defeat or amendment of any Bill or resolution before either House of Parliament | 2 952 | 7 | 3 732 | 7 |
5. Compliance
For the period covered by this report, compliance by the lobbyists community with the registration requirements of the Act appeared to be reasonable. However, there was an increase in the frequency of incomplete information on Tier I registrations, and this was addressed, in part, by the issuance of a short instruction guide to completing registration returns. The Lobbyists Registration Branch also continued to initiate appropriate action to correct observed deficiencies. One complaint respecting the alleged failure to file a return required by the Act was referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the principal enforcement authority for the law.
6. Information Requests of the Registry
In the period shortly before and after the opening of the Registry, some 1,200 telephone calls were received for information about the program. There were 51 visitors and 85 telephone calls requesting information about lobbyists. Aprivate weekly publication reports every registration, thus supplementing the information services offered by the Lobbyists Registration Branch.
Branch revenues from copies of documents and Registry reports amounted to $7 521 .90 for the period ending March 31, 1991.
The Registry is open for public inspection Monday to Friday, except holidays, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. It is located at:
Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada
Place du Portage, Phase II, 4th floor
165 Hôtel-de-Ville Street
Hull, Quebec
K1A OC9
General: 819-953-7144
Legislative Enquiries: 819-953-7272
Lobbyists Registry Information: 819-953-9246
FAX: 819-953-9247
