We support the current approach, which is to apply the act to people who are professionals communicating with the government as part of their jobs. Imagine if everyone, paid or not, either as a private citizen, academic, union member, or a seniors group had to register as a lobbyist before they could call their MP to talk about changes to the tax code, copyright, collective bargaining, or whatever. To us, that's not lobbying. That's citizenship. The objective of the act was not to keep a complete record of all MPs' interactions with all their constituents who may approach them as individuals. It was to keep a record of professionals who communicate with the government to try to effect change as part of their jobs. We think that's the right approach.
On February 2nd, 2012. See this statement in context.