Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today.
I am pleased to appear with my colleague from Quebec, Commissioner Routhier. My remarks today will parallel his in that I'm going to be speaking to Ontario's legislation and the experience with the Lobbyists Registration Act. I will also be speaking to some of the recommendations that Commissioner Bélanger has made regarding the Lobbying Act in order to highlight the similarities between the Ontario and federal systems.
In the interest of time, I'll make brief remarks on the following topics: the registration threshold for the in-house lobbyist category, the need to ensure conduct rules apply to all types of lobbyists, and additional compliance measures or penalties.
The Ontario legislation appoints the Integrity Commissioner as the lobbyist registrar. I am independent and non-partisan. My office maintains a public record of lobbyists who are lobbying the Ontario government. The registry currently has more than 4,000 registrations. These reflect the work of 3,800 lobbyists and approximately 2,500 businesses and organizations.
As with the federal legislation, registration is required for consultant lobbyists, who represent clients, and for in-house lobbyists, who work for for-profit and not-for-profit entities that engage in lobbying. Ontario does not require monthly communication reports, and the act provides me with investigative powers. If I find a contravention, I can impose a limited number of penalties.
Commissioner Bélanger's first submission to this committee addresses the registration threshold for in-house lobbyists. In Ontario, there is a 50-hour registration threshold.
It works like this. The senior officer of a business or organization is required to register when the combined number of hours that employees or paid directors and officers spend lobbying Ontario public office holders reaches 50 hours in a 12-month period. The 50-hour threshold came into effect following legislative amendments in 2016 in Ontario. Before that, the threshold mirrored the current federal legislation—significant part of duties. When Ontario switched to the 50-hour threshold, it resulted in a steady increase in the number of in-house registrations. There are now 50% more in-house registrations than we saw in 2016.
I am of the view that having more registrations means more transparency on who is lobbying government and about what. As you know, this is a cornerstone of lobbying regulation. In fact, in 2021, my predecessor, J. David Wake, called for a further reduction in the registration threshold in Ontario.
As you will appreciate, with 50 hours, it's anything below that level. A lot of lobbying can take place in 49 hours. Forty-nine hours of lobbying, without any requirement to register, runs counter to the goal of transparency. By way of comparison, consultant lobbyists are required to register when they make even one phone call, email or request for a meeting. That's why I echo Commissioner Wake's recommendation to reduce the threshold further in Ontario.
I also support Commissioner Bélanger's recommendation to eliminate the “significant part of duties” registration threshold federally. She also recommended that the federal code of conduct apply to all lobbyists and senior officers. Ontario does not have a lobbyists' code of conduct, but we do have an important conduct requirement in the act that prohibits any consultant or in-house lobbyist from placing a public officer holder in a real or potential conflict of interest.
If lobbying regulation includes rules of conduct, like a conflict of interest rule or a gift offering rule, it should apply consistently to all individuals who are lobbying or who are directing the lobbying activity. My office has also recommended amendments to the Ontario legislation to strengthen and make consistent the provisions related to the conduct of lobbyists.
Finally, Commissioner Bélanger also recommended amendments to allow for a range of additional compliance measures, including mandatory training, administrative monetary penalties and temporary prohibitions on lobbying.
In Ontario, if I find that someone has breached the act, there are two penalties I can impose. I can name them publicly or prohibit them from lobbying for up to two years, or I can do both. It's worth noting that in the almost 10 years of investigations, the Ontario registrar has issued one prohibition on lobbying and named 11 lobbyists for contraventions of the act.
In closing, I thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. I would be pleased, like my colleague from Quebec, to answer any questions you may have.