Evidence of meeting #76 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was compliance.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
What are the activities that you do? Are they going out having speaking engagements? What types of organizations do you speak to?
4:05 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
There's a variety. I've been invited to speak to certain universities, for example, meeting the public office holders. There were 900 people that we reached through doing presentations. We've spoken at the Canada School of Public Service as well, which is offering courses to public servants. It's another great way of getting the outreach.
On the registration side, we've met with particular lobbying firms and so on, and we did a little bit more in-depth analysis with them. The registration side is doing webinars with some of the first-time registrants, or others who may not be close to the city. Taking advantage of technology is, I think, a wonderful thing.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Is the education portion of it divided between the personal—hands-on, actually being there, giving a seminar, or education—and the website and information that's available to access at any time?
4:05 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Exactly. It's a mixture of all of those different components.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
When you talked about the review and the investigations, you said that since you'd become commissioner, you'd initiated 101 administrative review files and completed 105. Is that 105 out of the 110 total?
4:05 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
I inherited 40 administrative review files and six investigation files. So this is not only closing files that I'm opening under my tenure since 2008, but also closing some of the administrative review files that I inherited from my predecessor in 2008.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Would some of those still be there from before 2008?
4:05 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
All of them have been completed except for two.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
So there are just the two. You went on to say that you wanted to avoid having any file become too old. What would be too old? What's the normal timeframe?
4:05 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
When files come in, some tend to have more serious allegations, which you want to get out there as quickly as possible. But at the same time, you don't want to have the old files just sitting there.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
So it's a case of making sure that something doesn't get put aside and never dealt with.
4:05 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
That's right. The investigation team is handling at any one time between 50 and 60 files. That includes exemption reviews, which have service standards associated with them. They are done quite quickly because people are making decisions on jobs, for example. Then you're determining priority files and evaluating the seriousness of the allegation. That's one example that would be used for the prioritization of the file. We also estimate how long it's going to take to complete. From looking at files at the outset, you can see that some are going to be very complex, with a number of interviews involved and maybe some travel. All of that is factored in. The investigation team is constantly triaging or moving files around as necessary.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pierre-Luc Dusseault
Thank you Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Shepherd.
Mr. Boulerice now has the floor for five minutes.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon Mrs. Shepherd; thank you for coming here today. You always have interesting and intriguing testimony to provide.
I am going to give you some background. In Quebec, over the past several months, we have been watching the rather painful spectacle of the Charbonneau Commission, which has undertaken a sweeping investigation and will continue to investigate into collusion and corruption in the construction industry. Now we are seeing that is reaching even further. There have been several examples of testimony from individuals at the municipal level and this is also implicating individuals at the provincial level.
Can you say with any confidence that we are sheltered from this at the federal level? In other words, with the legislation and your office's resources, are we able to say that we do not need to worry and that what is happening in Montreal and Laval could not happen here in Ottawa?
4:10 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Mr. Chairman, it is important to show that there will be consequences. That is why I tabled 10 reports in Parliament. When I did submit those reports, the telephone starting ringing off the hook because many people wanted to make sure that they were compliant with the law.
Awareness-raising was mentioned earlier and that is very important in making sure that individuals properly understand their responsibilities under the law and under the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct. As I have always said to everyone, I take all allegations seriously and I am ready to do what is necessary. I hope this helps resolve situations that could be problematic.
4:10 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
In fact I was filling the position on an interim basis for the first year.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Fine.
So over the past five years you have only referred 10 cases to the RCMP.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Given that the federal government is a significant provider of contracts, that it has infrastructure plans and programs, and that 5,000 lobbyists work on Parliament Hill full time, does this mean that all is well? Or does it mean that we do not have the tools we require to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest, and that there are no individuals who are able, for monetary considerations, to obtain contracts from the federal government? Given what we have seen at the Charbonneau Commission in Quebec, it is difficult to believe that we have 5,000 angels on Parliament Hill here in Ottawa.
4:10 p.m.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
That is why I raise awareness not only amongst lobbyists, but also parliamentarians. People always ask me what a best practice is. I tell them that it is really up to parliamentarians and other public officials to ask the person with whom they are meeting whether they are aware of the Lobbying Act. If the person says they are, then they should be asked whether they are in compliance with the act. Such an approach would help avoid problematic situations.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
On May 14, 2012, the committee tabled its report on the Lobbying Act in the House of Commons. In its September 17, 2012, response, the government supported recommendations 5 and 9. However, with respect to recommendations 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, the government stated that it had reviewed the various approaches for implementing those recommendations. The government further stated it planned to consider recommendations 2, 10 and 11 and continue to study their merits.
What follow-up do you suggest for the legislative review of the Lobbying Act? What is your analysis of the report and, especially, the government response?