Information & Ethics committee  We won’t necessarily notify the people who have been reported. But during audits, we are going to have all the latitude we need to be able to find or provide the evidence. However, quite often, they are aware of this and we are called to meet with them directly. So very seldom ar

Information & Ethics committee  That’s right, if we want to respect the spirit of the provision. The provision refers to principles and it is important to see whether those principles are respected beyond the strict standards. It is often difficult to have standards, since we seem to tell ourselves that, if we

Information & Ethics committee  In Quebec, we don’t have administrative penalties, although the lobbyist commissioner has made a suggestion to have administrative penalties for very specific offences. Not all offences would necessarily be subject to administrative penalties with opportunity to appeal, since tha

Information & Ethics committee  Quebec is one of the only jurisdictions with a code of conduct that can lead to penalties, meaning criminal sanctions, including disciplinary action for non-compliance with rules. As for lobbying, the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct has provisions dealing with professionalism and resp

Information & Ethics committee  I think it's crucial that the commissioner have immunity for his inquiries and the reports he submits. Furthermore, he's an officer of the National Assembly. He's a designated person, as we say in Quebec. All designated people have immunity, whether the person is an ombudsman, th

Information & Ethics committee  In Quebec, one of the commissioner's responsibilities is to provide monitoring and oversight. Not only does he have the authority to investigate when matters are brought to his attention, but he can also initiate inquiries himself. However, before investigating, an audit must be

Information & Ethics committee  What I can say is that the authority that the lobbyists commissioner is given in Quebec is the authority of an investigations commissioner. That authority makes it possible to find all the evidence necessary, which isn't always easy to obtain. You just spoke about the concept of

Information & Ethics committee  I think the lobbyists commissioner is best suited to conduct these inquiries from start to finish. The commissioner is the one who knows the act and must apply it and interpret it. People from the outside, such as members of police forces or even directors of public prosectutions

Information & Ethics committee  In Quebec, former ministers are prohibited for two years from engaging in lobbying, in this case as consultant lobbyists with any public office holder or colleagues on the council of ministers. Nor can they lobby as enterprise or organization lobbyists with former colleagues or i

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. If an enterprise organization retains a consultant lobbyist to lobby on its behalf, the consultant lobbyist must register in the registry of lobbyists. If the same enterprise organization instead instructs one of its employees to do the same lobbying, the most senior office

Information & Ethics committee  Madam Chair and members of the committee… it's a great pleasure for me to be here today as part of the statutory review of the Lobbying Act. I want to share with you the Quebec experience with regard to the application of the Quebec Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act. Why ha