Lobbying, Democracy and Governance in the Public Interest

• Author: Craig Forcese/Aaron Freeman
• Pages: 458-480

Lobbying,

Democracy

and

Governance

in the

Public

Interestt

As

suggested

in

chapter

7, the

Canadian system accepts that good govern-

ment

in a

modern

democracy depends

on

adherence

to

certain substantive

standards

of

ethical behaviour among public

officials.

The

instruments

obliging

ethical behaviour

often

underscore that public

officials

are to act

in

the

"public interest."

Thus,

these

ethics

rules

are

designed, principally,

to

preclude

a

public

official

from

acting

in

response

to his or her

private

or

self-interest.

But

the

concept

of

public interest governance

has

another dimension,

one

connected

to a

utilitarian vision

of

democracy:

in a

democracy,

a

gov-

ernment

"of the

people

for the

people" should govern

for the

greatest good

of

the

greatest number.

Put

another way, public

officials

should resist tai-

loring policy

to

suit narrow "special"

interests

seeking

a

disproportionate

benefit

from

government

not in the

interest

of the

broader public.

Guarding

against special interest governance

is a

difficult

task.

In

Canada,

we

have responded

by

regulating

the

activities

of

those

who

would

influence government

in one

direction

or

another, namely lobbyists.

In

this

chapter,

we

explore these rules, focusing

first

on the

concept

of

lobbying

and

then

on the

manner

in

which

it is

regulated.

As

this discussion will

make clear, Canada regulates lobbyists,

not by

restricting their influence

so

much

as by

requiring modest transparency

in

relation

to

their activities.

458

8

Lobbying, Democracy

and

Governance

in the

Public

Interest

459

A.

LOBBYING:

AN

OVERVIEW

There

is a

story

most

people

in the

Ottawa lobbying

business

know.

Harvie

Andre,

the

Commons House leader under Brian Mulroney, once reported-

ly

walked into

a

party

at the

lavish

home

of a

well-connected lobbyist

in

Ottawa's

stylish

Rockcliffe

Park neighbourhood. Peering about

at the

expensive

decor,

he

wondered aloud, "Why

is it

worth more

to

know

Harvie

Andre

than

it is to be

Harvie

Andre?"1

The

answer,

of

course,

is

straightforward.

The

House leader helps

make decisions with serious financial consequences

for

people with lots

of

money.

Barred

or

limited

by the

various rules

and

laws described

in

chap-

ter 3 (on

election law)

and

chapter

7 (on

ethics)

from

directly influencing

officials

through financial contributions, these people expend resources

instead

on

those close

to the

politician

who

purport

to

know

his or her

mind,

or to be in a

position

to

shape

his or her

views.

The

term

"lobbyist"

was an

expression

first

coined

by

U.S. President

Ulysses

S.

Grant,

the

general

who

defeated

the

South

in the

U.S. Civil War.

Grant took regular cigar

and

brandy breaks from

his

presidential

duties,

frequenting

the bar of the

Willard Hotel, just

two

blocks

from

the

White

House.

His

routine

became well-known among those trying

to

influence

government,

who

would wait

for

Grant

in the

hotel lobby. Grant called

them

"lobbyists,"

and the

name

has

stuck ever since.

The

role

of

lobbyists,

and the

role they

play

in the

democratic process,

has

grown considerably since that time.

In

Canada,

professional lobbyists

outnumber

MPs by

about

five

to

one,2

and

sometimes wield more power.

Yet,

for all the

clout that lobbyists have,

the

average Canadian

has

only

a

foggy

sense

of

what lobbyists

do.

"Lobbying"

is

defined rather literally

by the

Oxford

English

Dictionary.

"[t]o

influence (members

of a

house

of

legislature)

in the

exercise

of

their

legislative

functions

by

frequenting

the

lobby." This definition includes

two

elements worth

flagging.

First,

it

suggests that lobbyists exercise influence.

In

Canada, while lobbyists

often

dispute

the

notion that they

can

personal-

ly

influence

a

governmental decision,

it is

this

perception that

is the

pri-

mary

reason

for the

robustness

of

their practice.

Put

simply, lobbyists

are

Legislative

Assembly

of

Ontario,

Alex

Cullen (Ottawa-West),

Hansard

(13

Oct.

1998).

Lobbyists

Registry's

2003-2004 Annual

Report

shows that there

are

1,598

lobbyists

registered

federally

in

Canada,

compared

to 308

MPs.

I

2