Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I am pleased to be here today to discuss main estimates and outline my priorities for the fiscal year. I am joined by René Leblanc, Deputy Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer. My mandate is threefold: to maintain a registry of lobbyists; to develop and implement educational programs to foster awareness of the act; and to ensure compliance with the Lobbying Act and the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm lucky, as well, that I have a very dedicated team of staff who are more than willing to wear more than one hat. That said, in terms of the strategic operating review, it indicated that I could absorb a 5% reduction in this registration system. What that has meant is that there's no development anymore; I'm now in maintenance function.

Information & Ethics committee  At this point I would say no, because we've been working on the investigations in terms of making them more efficient. That's one of the reasons for the case management system. I've always said that I take all allegations seriously, and I do. Since I became commissioner I've opened 118 administrative reviews, closed 126, with 11 referrals to the RCMP.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, the strategic operating review that I did in 2011 did indicate, and I've said this before at this committee, that I'm running a very lean and efficient organization.

Information & Ethics committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I am pleased to be here today to discuss the main estimates 2014-15 for the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. I would also like to take this opportunity to touch upon my mandate and outline a few of my priorities for this fiscal year.

Information & Ethics committee  I would like to clarify one thing. I mentioned a charge laid against a lobbyist. I would like to specify that I was not talking about Mr. Carson. Should the committee wish, I could provide it with the charge which is now public and before the courts.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  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.

Information & Ethics committee  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.

Information & Ethics committee  The government has stated that it wishes to make changes which in my opinion, will strengthen the act. It is important, in the case of administrative penalties, for example, to check what my provincial counterparts are doing, including whether things are working well and whether criteria have been established.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  In fact I was filling the position on an interim basis for the first year.

Information & Ethics committee  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.

Information & Ethics committee  All of them have been completed except for two.

Information & Ethics committee  Part of that is the actual salaries of the individuals who are involved. It's the cost of maintaining the website, of any of the documents that are done, and any travel and so on that's allocated towards that activity.