Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll make some brief comments.
Members of the committee, Mr. Chair, I'm very pleased to be here today. As a point of departure for questions you may have for me regarding the lobbying provisions in Bill C-2, I thought it could be useful to you if I were to provide a brief synopsis of the operation of the current legislation, from my perspective.
First, I'll offer some statistics from the registry of lobbyists. Members will recall that the Lobbyists Registration Act defines three categories of lobbyists: consultant lobbyists, who are hired by individuals, businesses, and others to communicate with public office holders; in-house lobbyists for corporations, who are employees of entities that operate for profit; and in-house lobbyists for organizations, who are employees of organizations that operate on a non-profit basis. There are various provisions in the act that require registration in one of these categories, but the most important of these are that communication with public office holders takes place and that there is compensation involved.
As of May 15, 2006, there are 4,752 lobbyists registered. The breakdown of this number is as follows: 699 consultant lobbyists, with 2,330 registrations; 1,764 in-house lobbyists working for 274 corporations; and 2,289 in-house lobbyists working for 376 non-profit organizations. This breakdown shows that although it's often consultant lobbyists who have the highest profile in the media, there is actually a great deal of variety among those required to register under the act. I mention this because I have observed that the act has broad application.
For example, measures in the act that may have been intended to target the activities of former public office holders who lobby on behalf of large corporations can also apply to a staff member at a university who is discussing policy with Health Canada, or the CEO of a ten-person company who is applying for financial assistance from ACOA.
The registry itself is available through the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is no charge to access it and staff have been working hard to improve the search capabilities. The registry is well known among lobbyists and it is the most used registry by public office holders.
That said, my assessment of awareness of the act, how it operates and who needs to register is that it is low. With public office holders in particular, I see a need to clarify the requirements of the act through education and awareness. I am convinced that this will go a long way towards increasing compliance with the legislation.
For example, even with the limited awareness and education efforts my office has been able to undertake over the past several months, combined with the higher profile of lobbying in the media, I know that there are more public office holders checking the registry before they agree to meet with lobbyists. More education will pay dividends in registrations. So will more enforcement.
As members are perhaps aware, there is virtually no evidence that there are consequences for ignoring the Lobbyists Registration Act or the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct, no convictions, no fines, no jail terms, no code of conduct reports tabled in Parliament.
While the current act provides significant powers to the registrar to conduct an investigation under the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct, there are virtually no powers currently provided that would enable the registrar to gather the evidence required to either launch a Code of Conduct investigation or to construct a solid base from which the RCMP can investigate possible breaches of the act.
I will stop here, Mr. Chair.
I look forward to contributing to your deliberations on this bill. I hope to see a legislative outcome that will help to ensure that confidence in Canadian federal institutions increases to enhance accountability and transparency in the lobbying of public office holders.