I would just say that in terms of all the changes I have recommended generally, I would hope that opposition party leaders will, as with Bill C-290, join together and introduce bills to strengthen the Access to Information Act, the Lobbying Act, the Conflict of Interest Act and other democratic government measures. As with Bill C-290, the opposition parties have a majority in the House. They should be passing these bills and daring the Liberals and the Senate to vote against them.
In terms of GC Strategies, first of all, there's not supposed to be any lobbying during procurement processes. You can ask questions of the government institution that's contracting out, and the answers will then go to all the bidders. That is a registry of who asked the question and what the answer was. That's all that's allowed. Otherwise, you're lobbying. You are communicating in respect of decisions.
The big, huge loophole in the Lobbying Act, unfortunately, is that if you're not paid for the lobbying, you do not have to register. If you have a contract that says you're just providing strategic advice and that you're being paid for the advice, but that any lobbying you do is free, then you cannot be prosecuted under the Lobbying Act. You have not been paid for lobbying. It's a loophole that has to be changed, along with several other loopholes, to ensure that all lobbying is disclosed and secret lobbying is illegal. One of the big problem areas in this and many other policy-making processes is that secret lobbying.
As well, if the Lobbying Act doesn't apply to you, you can unethically lobby. You can provide gifts and assistance to the people you are trying to get government decisions from. You're not covered by the Lobbying Act, and therefore not covered by the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct. Until these loopholes are closed, as I said, the system is the scandal. Expect more scandals, because the system encourages them.