It Takes Two to Tango--Exempt Staff and the Lobbying Act.

• Author: Vietinghoff, Christina

Canada's federal Lobbying Act is focussed on the lobbyist rather than the lobbied. However, the lobbied can play an important role in contributing to a culture of compliance. Given lobbying rules focus on the lobbyists, the lobbied do not have a strong incentive to learn about lobbying regulations. Furthermore, training from the Commissioner of Lobbying's office is not mandatory. Thus, it is expected that a knowledge gap on the Lobbying Act exists. A survey sent to ministerial Chiefs of Staff revealed such a knowledge gap--although factors like experience as a lobbyist have a positive correlation to knowledge of lobbying regulations. This gap is concerning and speaks to challenges with training in the unique context of the Hill.

Contrary to its negative public perception, lobbying is a legitimate and regulated channel through which organizations and individuals influence policy in a Parliamentary democracy. It requires two parties: the lobbyist who is asking for something and the public office holder who is being asked. Parliament created lobbying regulations which focus almost exclusively on the former. Although the public office holder being lobbied is an integral party to the act of lobbying, there is very little research on the participation of the lobbied in the Canadian federal context. A study of one such category of public office holders, chiefs of staff in Ministers' offices, demonstrates some of the challenges with regulating lobbying in a Parliamentary democracy and areas where further research is essential.

Despite a rigorous public debate in Ottawa around lobbying, there is still confusion around basic definitions and concepts. Lobbying is any direct or indirect communication, for payment, with a federal public office holder regarding making or changing any policies, programs, legislation, regulations or funding. Canada's Lobbying Act and associated regulations and interpretations are based on the premise that access to and lobbying of decision makers is an important part of democracy.

Parliament designed Canada's lobbying regulatory system to frame the burden of compliance on the lobbyists. At Westminster, in contrast, it is the Members of Parliament who are subject to lobbying oversight through the Registrar of Members' Interests (1). In Canada, federal lobbying was first addressed through legislation in 1989 with the Lobbyists Registration Act. Since the responsibility for compliance was first placed on the lobbyists, subsequent legislation, regulations and interpretations have predominantly reinforced this as a defining feature of the Canadian lobbying regulatory system.

Within the category of designated public office holders (DPOH) who are on the receiving end of lobbying, exempt staff make up a unique subcategory that includes all political staff appointed at the Minister's discretion in their office. Chiefs of staff are a particularly interesting category of exempt staff because they serve both a strategic policy role and a management role in a minister's office (2). They are a key player in lobbying as they are gate keepers to the minister and are also lobbied themselves. Furthermore, they are usually responsible for training in a minister's office and hire the rest of a minister's staff. There is little recent academic literature in Canada on the demographics of ministerial staff and especially on chiefs of staff (3).

These public office holders are affected by the Act in two ways: first, they are subject to a five-year ban on lobbying after leaving their position and, second, they must verify communication reports. The current Commissioner of Lobbying, Karen Shepherd, highlighted that DPOH are not required to keep records in a public letter in 2011: "The Lobbying Act does not specify that DPOHs must keep records, only that they confirm, if requested by my...