The first thing I would tell you is that the senior in your riding who wants the sidewalk fixed, unless he or she is being paid by all the other seniors, is not a lobbyist. This is a constituent. This is something that we have seen from other affiants or people who are testifying in front of this committee, talking about what they've described as “volunteer lobbying”.
I want to be really clear that in order to be subject to the Lobbying Act you have to be paid. It's not an act that's subject to the situation you describe in your opening remarks.
The example that Jim spoke to in his presentation, about someone who is shopping for a specific type of interpretation in advance of whatever he is seeking to accomplish, is a good example of the conflict that exists here.
From my perspective, right now the two laws are bifurcated from one another, in that you will be placed in a conflict of interest if X, Y, or Z happens, but a lobbyist will be deemed to put you in a conflict of interest when W, X, Y, and Z happen. That should not be the case; there should be the one integrated provision.
The other interesting issue under the Lobbying Act is the interpretation of what conflict of interest is. There have been some questions about what political activities can raise a conflict of interest. In your question, Mr. Angus, you asked specifically about political fundraising.
Political activity, which was the object of the problem with rule 8, actually strikes at the very core of our fundamental charter rights concerning participating in the electoral process and freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
I would be very wary of treading into those areas for fear of constitutional ramifications on both your constitutional rights as a member of Parliament and the freedom of speech that would apply to you, but also those of the volunteers and the people who support you in your home constituencies. If they are helping you, whether by putting signs on lawns or organizing a fundraiser, that's their political right; that is their section 3 right. To then prevent them ex post facto from exercising their section 6 right would be a problem.