This committee meeting was part of the statutory review of the *Lobbying Act*. The witnesses were Suzanne Sabourin and Jacques Shore, legal counsel from Gowling WLG appearing as individuals; Christina Santini, Director of National Affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business; Kyle Larkin, President and CEO of the Canadian Meat Council, appearing as an individual; and Jodene Baker, Vice-President of Research, Advocacy and External Relations for Imagine Canada.
Suzanne Sabourin stated she had no objection to default registration but argued that any change to the registration threshold must be made by Parliament, not by the commissioner. She said the 2023 changes to the *Lobbyists' Code of Conduct* risk stifling legitimate dialogue, and that the right approach is to prioritize transparency through clear standards while avoiding restrictions on legitimate engagement. She recommended a reasonable *de minimis* threshold to avoid disproportionate compliance burdens on routine administrative interactions, and argued that granting the commissioner independent regulatory authority is incompatible with parliamentary accountability and Canadian administrative law.
Jacques Shore cautioned that expanded disclosure obligations could undermine solicitor-client privilege and suggested the committee consider a mechanism similar to Quebec's, allowing for a temporary deferral of public disclosure in cases involving highly sensitive information. He argued that the lobbying regime should reflect a baseline level of trust in public office holders and that expanding the categories of designated public office holders would impose unnecessary burdens and discourage valuable dialogue. He also warned that granting the commissioner independent regulation-making authority would be inconsistent with Canadian administrative law.
Christina Santini said the new eight-hour threshold and proposals for registration by default risk unintentionally capturing ordinary small business owners as lobbyists. She recommended not pursuing registration by default, legislating the threshold back to 32 hours, and excluding time spent applying for grants and contributions from the threshold. She also called for clarity on how "grassroots lobbying" would be defined and argued that only planned communications organized to influence policy should be reported, not unintended or haphazard meetings.
Kyle Larkin raised concerns about several of the commissioner's recommendations, including deeming board members as employees, which he said would capture volunteers; requiring disclosure of all entities with a direct interest, which could force associations to publish membership lists; and requiring all communications with designated public office holders to be reportable, which he said would create a significant administrative burden. He argued that the current system of oral and arranged communication works best and that the commissioner's recommendations would have a disproportionate impact on not-for-profit associations.
Jodene Baker said the recent change to the in-house lobbying threshold from 32 to eight hours has created significant concern across the non-profit sector. She argued that the fundamental question is why Parliament included a threshold in the first place, which was to distinguish between sustained lobbying activity and occasional engagement. Her primary recommendation was that Parliament clarify the meaning of "significant part of the duties" to capture significant lobbying activity while avoiding unintended consequences for organizations whose policy engagement is limited or incidental.
The committee heard testimony from members of Parliament who questioned witnesses on various aspects of the commissioner's recommendations. Michael Cooper questioned Sabourin and Shore on the practicality of reporting requirements, while Linda Lapointe asked about the importance of lobbying as a democratic activity. Rhéal Éloi Fortin asked about registration by default and the treatment of board members, and Gabriel Hardy questioned whether overregulation would hinder democratic participation. Fares Al Soud asked about the importance of legitimate engagement and the burden on small businesses, and Wade Chang asked about the disproportionate burden on small organizations and the issue of granting the commissioner independent regulation-making authority. Michael Barrett asked Larkin and Baker about the impact of broader registration rules on participation, and Chris Malette asked Baker about the lack of consultation on the threshold change and Larkin about challenges with the B.C. lobbying act. No procedural debate, motions, or votes were recorded in this transcript.
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