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Information & Ethics committee I am bound by the way the law is written right now. I'll do what I can to look at the facts of the case and apply the law as best I can. It was a priority back in 2012. One of my recommendations will be to eliminate it. I can tell you that across the country there are a few provinces that have the threshold of a significant part of duties; the rest have a threshold of hours per year.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee I don't know that I can, because it's in the regulations right now.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee Yes. We cannot name everyone who's in the room. That is an amendment that should be made.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee However, I don't have the flexibility to change that. It's in the regulations.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee Possibly, but right now the registry is not set up for that, so it would require some changes.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee Certainly, the bigger ones are in the area of transparency, and yes, removing the word “arranged”, I think, is not a big change to be made in the law. It would certainly enhance transparency, because right now the obligation is only to report monthly those communications that are oral and arranged in advance.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee In a perfect world, all of our investigations would be done jointly, because, honestly, very often it's the flip side. I worked in that office for six years, and obviously, you can come out with two reports that will have opposite findings. Of course, in a perfect world, again, it would be great to do that.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee However, my office has no jurisdiction over the Aga Khan, because he's not a lobbyist.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee His foundation is, but if you look at the report, there's no indication the foundation was involved in the gift-giving. Those were the facts we were working with.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee I agree with you about websites. Finding a way to reach out to Canadians is important. It's something we're still thinking about, but I will tell you, in all sincerity, that, before we can reach out to Canadians, we have to reach out to parliamentarians, MPs and senators. We've seen many articles in the news that suggest people do not know what obligations lobbyists have when it comes to our office.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee Absolutely. I've already started working on it. I was asked in December whether I could be ready for the spring, so I knew it was coming and I've been working with that in mind. I'd like the review to address a few main themes. How can the act be amended to improve transparency?
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee Yes. Knowing that it might get under way in the spring, I couldn't really commit to extensive consultations. I started with the basics, with the commissioner's recommendations from 2012. I started there and, then, I examined the issues as they've evolved since. I'm also really relying on my team.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee I can tell you that the transition was organized incredibly well. When I arrived, the team welcomed me with open arms. I had five or six briefing books to read, which I did. The appointment of a new commissioner had been expected for a while, so the transition was really quite smooth.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger
Information & Ethics committee Thank you very much. Good morning, Mr. Chair, and good morning, members of the committee. This is my first appearance before you as Commissioner of Lobbying. I want to let you know that I feel quite at home in my new position. The staff has been most welcoming and supportive since my arrival.
May 8th, 2018Committee meeting
Nancy Bélanger