Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I am pleased to be here to provide you with an overview of my office and to outline my priorities for 2011-2012. I am joined by René Leblanc, Deputy Commissioner.
My mandate, which comes from the Lobbying Act, is threefold: maintain the registry of lobbyists; raise awareness about the Lobbying Act and the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct; and ensure compliance with the act and the code.
Lobbyists are individuals who are paid or employed to communicate with public office holders to change the state of play concerning government legislation, regulations, or policies or programs, or to try to obtain government grants or contributions. The Lobbying Act recognizes that lobbying is a legitimate activity. The transparency provided by the act is central to enhancing the public's confidence and the integrity of decisions taken by government.
The registry of lobbyists is our primary tool for ensuring the transparency of lobbying activities conducted at the federal level. The registry is the online application that lobbyists use to publicly disclose their lobbying activities. The number of registered lobbyists currently stands at 5,000.
In 2010-11, we streamlined the processing of registrations and managed to decrease the time it takes for lobbyists to register, from an average of 20 days to about three. I believe this improves transparency, as information about federal lobbying activities is now available to the public that much sooner.
Another important aspect of my mandate is to foster awareness of the Lobbying Act. I believe that communicating the rationale and the requirements of the act and the code leads to better compliance.
In 2010-2011, my staff and I met with approximately 1,500 individuals to explain the requirements of the act and the code. These events also provided opportunities to receive feedback on how we are doing and helped inform my recommendations for amendments to the act.
The enforcement of the act and the code is supported by an extensive program of monitoring, verifications, administrative reviews, and investigations. Every year my office verifies several hundred individuals, corporations, and organizations after learning that they have lobbied federal public office holders.
In recent experience, we found that the majority had filed returns in the registry of lobbyists or that registration is not required. Last year my office verified the accuracy of about 400 monthly communication reports. Our experience is that only a small percentage of them contained errors such as incorrect dates or job titles. In some cases, the communication did not require a report, as it was not carried out orally or arranged in advance.
In 2010-11, I initiated 37 administrative reviews and closed 31. These reviews look into suspected or alleged contraventions of the Lobbying Act or the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct that are brought to my attention either through monitoring activities or complaints. Administrative reviews, which are fact-finding processes, result in reports that assist me in determining a suitable means of compliance.
There are four possible outcomes following an administrative review. One is that the allegation is unfounded, in which case I inform the relevant parties and close the file. In another, I may open an investigation if I determine that I have reason to believe it is necessary to ensure compliance with either the act or the code. I may also determine that I have reasonable grounds to refer the matter to the RCMP.
Lastly, I may determine that while the allegation is well founded, the gravity of the transgression is low and does not warrant referring it to the RCMP. In these cases, I am choosing to use alternative compliance measures. These measures include educating the person on the requirements of the act or requesting that a correction be made to the registry of lobbyists. These cases are also subject to further monitoring.
In 2010-11, I opened eight new investigations and closed six. Three of the six that were closed resulted in my finding the lobbyists in breach of the code. As required by the act, I tabled three reports to Parliament detailing my findings and conclusions. For the other three cases, I exercised my authority to cease the investigation, either because the subject matter had been dealt with in previous or impending reports to Parliament or because I considered the evidence to be insufficient.
Since 2008 I have referred six files to the RCMP, as I had reasonable grounds to believe that a person had committed an offence under the Lobbying Act. In all six cases the RCMP informed me that no further action would be taken.
A five-year prohibition on lobbying the federal government after designated public office holders leave office was introduced in the Lobbying Act in 2008.
Former designated public office holders may apply for an exemption from the five-year prohibition. I have the authority to grant one if doing so would not be contrary to the purpose of the act. Since 2008, I have received 17 requests for exemptions and have granted 4.
I would now like to focus on my priorities for this year.
My budget is about $4.6 million, and I currently have 28 employees. Each year nearly a quarter of my budget goes to administer the registry of lobbyists. In 2011-12, my priorities will be to implement service standards for registration processing and to have searching and reporting capabilities that are more effective and easier for clients to use.
Outreach activities represent about 20% of my budget. In 2011-12, I will continue to reach out to various audiences to raise awareness about the act and the code. We have also undertaken a complete overhaul of our website to improve functionality and simplify navigation. The work is expected to be completed by December.
At any given time, my office has a caseload of about 50 files. They range in complexity and include administrative reviews, investigations, and reviews of applications for exemption from the five-year prohibition on lobbying. A quarter of my budget goes towards those enforcement activities. In 2011-12, my priority in this area was originally to develop an automated case management system to facilitate the tracking and reporting of reviews and investigations. Unfortunately, this project has been delayed.
I am proud of all that my office has accomplished in its first three years to advance the transparency of lobbying activities. My objective is to continue to build on our successes to refine and streamline our operations, and to strive to administer the Lobbying Act more effectively.
To that end, I intend to adhere to the spirit and intent of the government's strategic and operating review exercise. I have undertaken a review, and I intend to present the results of this review to this committee and in my next report on plans and priorities.
In closing, I would like to note that the Lobbying Act is eligible for its five-year review. At my December 2010 appearance before this committee, I outlined a number of issues related to the review of the act. In March of this year, I tabled a report containing my recommendations to improve on the current legislation.
Although many aspects of the act are working well, my experience with the legislation leads me to believe that further amendments are necessary to improve transparency and ensure better compliance.
To improve transparency of lobbying activities, I am recommending that the act be amended to increase the number of individuals and activities covered by the act, for example, by removing the provisions regarding the significant part of duties and those requiring that a communication be arranged and advanced.
In terms of enforcement, the act prescribes significant fines and jail terms for offences, yet no charges have been laid. My experience points to the need for a system of administrative monetary penalties that would provide me with penalty options somewhere among my current practices of education, correction, and monitoring for less serious transgressions as well as for the more severe ones, including reports to Parliament and referrals to the RCMP.
It is clear to me that even minor transgressions, such as habitual late filing, may negatively affect the transparency of lobbying activities. In order to deal with such transgressions, the Lobbying Act currently offers no enforcement alternatives. An administrative monetary penalty system could potentially address the lack of flexibility in terms of enforcement options currently provided for in the act.
Not all transgressions have the same gravity. An administrative monetary penalty system would introduce a continuum of progressively more severe sanctions more appropriate to the existing range of possible breaches. Publicizing administrative monetary penalties applied would also serve as a general deterrent to all lobbyists.
I look forward to working with Parliament on the legislative review and other matters.
Mr. Chair, that concludes my remarks. I look forward to answering any questions you and the committee members may have.