Evidence of meeting #35 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was year.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Are there any recommendations you could share with us that you think are of a more urgent nature? If we had a review take place, would it allow you to allocate your resources, for example?
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Do you mean to allocate resources to the implementation of the recommendations or to allocate resources to do the review? It cut out again.
Conservative
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
We are ready to work with the committee on the review of the Lobbying Act. I've proposed 11 recommendations. These are preliminary. I want to hear what people have to say. I'm listening, and I'm looking at the reactions. There might be more recommendations, or we might tweak the ones we have submitted to you based on your feedback and your questions. These are not set in stone.
Do I have some that are preferred to others? This is a package deal. One affects the other, and the next one affects another. If we're serious about ensuring further transparency, clarity and efficiency, I think we need to look at them together.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Have you had a chance to evaluate any efficiencies your office may have been able to take advantage of during the pandemic? I'm assuming you have employees working from home.
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
We have a team of 28, with a very big mandate, so we're already extremely efficient. Working from home has probably helped us to be more digitized, with electronic signatures and being paperless. These are all very good things.
We are extremely productive, but at the end of the day, their productivity in the circumstance of working from home has a cost. People are tired. I'm not certain if we've gained that many efficiencies. You start a meeting, and someone's Wi-Fi turns off, and then somebody else leaves because their VPN broke down. Then you need to repeat everything that was said previously when they can join again. It's hard. It takes time.
It was a difficult year, but people are resilient. I am so proud of them. We were as productive, but on efficiencies, I'm not so sure.
Conservative
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Thank you very much.
Out of curiosity, what is the biggest complaint you hear about the Lobbying Act from actual lobbyists?
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
That's an interesting question. I don't think I hear complaints from lobbyists. They abide by it. There are 6,000 people who are registered.
I've heard a couple of grumblings since I tabled my recommendations, but I usually don't hear.... It's quite the reverse. In fact, I often get a nice email about our client services team and how people are there to help them in making sure they can register and fill out information. Sometimes we get a lot of questions about the technicalities of how to enter information, but we're there to help them. It's a very, very good tool, and people seem to be able to use it pretty easily as well.
I can't say that I really get complaints. It's a good question.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
All right.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Commissioner.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Thank you, Mr. Carrie. You did get through, but your connection was definitely a challenge. We'll hope that the remaining questions can be done without interference.
Mr. Fergus, we'll turn to you for the next round of questions.
Liberal
Greg Fergus Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I hope my connection is good and my questions are clear.
First, Commissioner, welcome back. It's a pleasure to see you again.
The last time I had the opportunity to meet you, when I was Parliamentary Secretary, you proposed a departmental plan that included an increase in your budget.
In budget 2021, an additional $4 million was allocated to your Office so that you could improve your IT capabilities and systems.
Can you talk a little about what you plan to do with that additional amount? How will you use the money to better serve Canadians?
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
I can tell you that the team was absolutely thrilled to see that these funds were given to us in the budget. We are in the process of finalizing the submission.
For this year the amount is about $620,000 and for subsequent years the amount will be $780,000. We will use the funds to hire five new employees. Currently, in the area of information management and information technology, we have three employees from the CS group, Computer Systems Administration, working on the Registry of Lobbyists.
We rely heavily on consultants, who are fantastic. However, we will need a few more staff to work on the registry to improve its accessibility and usability for those who need to report. Several things can be done to make the registry a little more user-friendly. So the funds will be used to hire five employees.
We also requested about $158,000 per year to update our tools. We have a lot of nice things, but licences and computers cost more. Everything costs more.
This year, we requested $175,000 to evaluate the possibility of using cloud computing, which the government recommends. We really can't afford it and I didn't even get the opportunity to evaluate it. We hope to be able to do that this year and then determine what the cost of using cloud computing would be.
We will be improving the Registry of Lobbyists and also trying to integrate our systems. We use three or four internal systems that are not really interconnected. So we're hoping that our staff can work on that to improve efficiency for those using those systems.
Liberal
Greg Fergus Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Madam Commissioner, you also mentioned the difficulties that your team had, much like all public servants and almost all Canadians did, when it came to quickly transitioning from working in the office—where you have all the tools at your fingertips—to teleworking. Almost overnight, people had to completely change their habits.
You talked a little about the difficulties you've experienced. What do you believe is going to happen when the stay-at-home order is lifted and people can go back to their offices, at least part time? Do you have any plans to accommodate people who will want to continue working from home?
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Thank you for the question.
I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing my employees in person. You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to it.
People have found ways to work from home, despite all the challenges that come with it, especially for those with young children. We start our days not sure when they will end. I mentioned earlier that we've been very productive, and that's because we've been working longer hours to try to cope with the situation. We can't step out of our office to go discuss a case with someone, for example.
I had already put together a reintegration plan for September of last year. So I already have a plan, but obviously it's going to have to be updated as the situation progresses. I'm going to do what our public health officials tell us to do. They will say what is acceptable and what is not. I'm sure that arrangements will be made so that people can continue teleworking.
I will also ask people to come in to work from time to time, if only for mental health reasons. People clearly need to see people other than those they live with. Casting the slippers aside, seeing colleagues, discussing cases and getting things done are all going to do everyone good.
In a few words, we will have some telework, but I expect some people will also return to the office. I feel that's important.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Monsieur Fergus, your time is up, but I'll allow you just a short question if you have one.
Liberal
Greg Fergus Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Bélanger, do you believe that the tools available to those wishing to register with the Registry of Lobbyists have been improved as a result of the changes you had to make?
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Yes. Over the past year, we've been able to make it a little easier to access the registry. People can now use a mobile device, while they used to need a computer. We've made improvements, but we have more to do.
We always listen when people ask us to improve this or that or get rid of something irritating. We can always improve little things. We continue to do that.
Liberal
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Thank you.
Conservative
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Ms. Bélanger.
I'm pleased to speak with you for a few minutes. This is the second time we've met.
Again, I think you need to have worked through more than one term of government before you can say you have experience.
So my questions are going to be more about operations. I will use an example. As parliamentarians, we meet people who, in some cases, have official lobbyist status. I have not read your 11 recommendations, but I know as we review the Act, much can be done to avoid all of the things that we've experienced over the past year.
What obligation do parliamentarians have to check who they are talking to? What steps need to be followed?
I know that, in principle, we have access to the registry to find out who we are dealing with and who we have worked with. Since I don't have enough experience with this, I'd like you to elaborate on it.
Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Thank you very much for the question.
Currently, the Lobbying Act does not require members of the House or any other designated public office holder to take notes or learn about lobbyists. However, I strongly recommend it.
When you're scheduled to meet with people, ask your staff to check the registry. It contains a lot of information about what these people are interested in. Among other things, it shows who they have met before you. That information can make you better prepared.
You're under no obligation, but certainly you are my first witnesses when I do an investigation. If I need to contact you to find out if a lobbyist or someone who should be in the registry is not, it would be really helpful if you have some information for me. If you have taken accurate notes, you could tell me who you met and when.
You are, however, required to respond to me when you receive some sort of automated form in which you are asked to confirm a meeting with a lobbyist who has listed the meeting in the registry for a particular month. So it's important that you keep accurate notes of who you are meeting with and when.
So, you have no further obligations except to respond to me when I contact you.