The Office of Commissioner of Lobbying.

• Author: Shepherd, Karen E.
• Position: Organization overview

The Office of Commissioner of Lobbying was established under the Federal Accountability Act in 2006 although the Lobbying Act itself has only been in force for about one year. This article provides a brief history of Canadian lobbying legislation in order to focus upon the changes to the federal lobbying regime contained in the Lobbying Act and how those changes have been implemented to date. It also identifies challenges in the legislation and how they have been addressed.

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The first Lobbyists Registration Act came into force in 1989, but, for all practical purposes, the disclosure requirements were no more than what you would find on a business card. In 1996, the Lobbyists Registration Act was amended to require lobbyists to disclose more information such as which departments they were lobbying, the subject matter and means of communication they were using. The 1996 legislation also introduced a requirement for the former Ethics Counsellor to establish a code of conduct for lobbyists. The Lobbyists' Code of Conduct was developed by the Ethics Counsellor and came into force in 1997. (1)

At that time, the Ethics Counsellor was responsible for administering the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct. However, he was also the Prime Minister's Ethics Counsellor, providing general advice to the Prime Minister regarding ethical matters, advising public office holders on the Conflict of Interest Code, in addition to maintaining overall responsibility for the administration of the Lobbyists Registration Act. This situation remained in place for nearly 10 years.

In 2004, the Parliament of Canada Act was amended to separate the lobbyists registration function from the ethics regime and the conflict of interest counselling functions. The newly created positions of Ethics Commissioner and Senate Ethics Officer reported directly to Parliament, while the Registrar of Lobbyists became a part-time position in the Lobbyists Registration Branch of Industry Canada. Industry Canada's Assistant Deputy Minister of Comptrollership and Administration assumed the responsibilities of the Registrar of Lobbyists at that time.

Significant amendments to the Lobbyists Registration Act came into force in June 2005. At that time, the Registrar's position and the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists were moved out of Industry Canada's offices, into separate ones. The Registrar ceased to sit on Industry Canada's management committee and began to function more independently of Industry Canada. This increasing independence of the lobbyists registration function has been heightened over the past few years.

In early 2006, the new government made further...