A Lobbyist's Observations on the Lobbying Act.

• Author: Doran, Kim
• Position: Viewpoint essay

An Ottawa based Lobbyist reflects on how changes to the Federal Accountability Act have affected the day to day work of lobbyists. Lobbyists have a series of regulatory filings that are mandatory. The interaction between the regulatory and the regulated can often slow the Act's cited goal of transparency.

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Let me begin by noting that lobbying is a profession and is recognized in law as a legitimate activity. Many in Ottawa have an understanding of how policies, regulations and consultations are developed, however, to many companies and organizations in the private sector and in the NGO sector, government decision-making can look very opaque. My fellow lobbyists and I sometimes say we act as a Global Positioning System and sometimes as translators of "what" government is saying and "how" the processes work. We are problem solvers, we provide creative solutions and we work on a variety of ever-changing files. In addition to complying with the Lobbying Act and its regulations, we are self-regulated through the Government Relations Institute of Canada.

I have been a Tier 1 lobbyist since 1993 and it is a job that I very much enjoy. I have worked with many different government administrations over that time and I have had a front line view of the various changes to the reporting requirements for lobbyists. When I first started all of the forms were paper, were filed and basically never seen again. Now the system has evolved to where I have my own personal website in the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying and I can see the status of my files.

Let me say a few things about how the relationship between lobbyists and government regulators has evolved over the years. For one thing we now have a five year ban on lobbying by certain individuals based on their involvement in the political process. I feel very lucky to be part of the "grandfathered" pool of Tier One lobbyists. I came to lobbying after being a Legislative Assistant to a Member of Parliament. I was able to learn the system of government, first hand, and I realized early on that it is the system of government that is important not your individual access to a "blue" or "red" government.

The current pool of lobbyists has been shrunk considerably by the new laws. Many who work for government today would make wonderful lobbyists because they have specific sector experience. They understand how regulations are drafted, how government works in advancing a program area and how...