Evidence of meeting #31 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was communication.
A video is available from Parliament.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
That's right.
Liberal
Abdelhaq Sari Liberal Bourassa, QC
In theory, some lobbyists were not registered to lobby, and they have connections to the office of the Leader of the Opposition.
Can that happen?
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
The Leader of the Opposition is a public office holder. Therefore, if someone communicates with the office of the Leader of the Opposition, they have to register. Everyone needs to register their intention to lobby the House of Commons, the Senate or certain departments.
What's missing, then, is the communication report. If they have a pre-arranged meeting with someone from that office, they are not required to report it. They are required to register, but not required to report on a monthly basis.
Liberal
Abdelhaq Sari Liberal Bourassa, QC
Can the Leader of the Opposition appoint members of his team as designated public office holders under section 128?
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
He can do that if he wants, yes. That's what the act provides for.
Liberal
Abdelhaq Sari Liberal Bourassa, QC
We're obviously talking about the Public Service Employment Act.
Is that correct?
Liberal
Abdelhaq Sari Liberal Bourassa, QC
However, at this point, none of them have been appointed as such.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
That's what I've been told.
Liberal
Abdelhaq Sari Liberal Bourassa, QC
For the moment, they have confirmed that with you. If I understand correctly, I can conclude that, based on the information provided by the office of the Leader of the Official Opposition, no one was appointed as such.
Commissioner of Lobbying, Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
That's the confirmation I received.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Mr. Sari.
Commissioner, that concludes today's meeting. I want to thank you for spending this much time with the committee. I found the discussion very enlightening today. I know that you're going to be watching this study as we go forward. I do expect that an invitation will be given to you at the end of the study to come back and draw some conclusions on what you've heard and what you've seen at this committee.
Thank you on behalf of the committee and on behalf of Canadians for being here at the start of this very important and timely study. I know you've been pushing for it, so I'm glad we're able to do it.
In saying that, however, I want members of the committee to be prepared on Thursday to come to deal with the Conflict of Interest Act report that we're working on. I suspect we'll be continuing that on the Monday following next week's break week.
I have no other business today.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Commissioner.
The meeting is adjourned.