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.

As I have previously said before this committee, I run a lean but effective organization due to the progress made in streamlining operations. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of my staff who continue to perform despite scarce resources, last year I was able to deliver several new tools for lobbyists; improve compliance in the areas of monthly communication reports; and launch our segregated secure network to enhance data security.

In 2013-14, my budget was cut by 5%. I am currently able to deliver on my mandate; however, there are not sufficient funds to implement major system upgrades and policy and program changes, which might be required if the act were to be amended. The amount in the 2015-16 main estimates for my office is about $4.5 million, which is essentially the same amount as last year. My salary envelope represents about 63% of my budget. The remaining 37% is for operating costs. I have a complement of 28 employees.

The registry of lobbyists is the primary tool for lobbyists to disclose their lobbying activities. A budget of about $1 million, including salaries for seven full-time employees, has been allocated to manage the registry this year.

Following the budget reduction in 2013-14, the registry was placed in maintenance mode. However, given the importance of the system, this position is not sustainable in the long term. One of my priorities this year is to develop solutions to ensure the registry continues to be stable in the long run.

In terms of ensuring compliance with the act and the code, I allocated $1.1 million in 2015-16 to enforcement activities, including the salaries for eight full-time employees. In addition to conducting reviews and investigations, my office undertakes a broad range of monitoring and compliance verification activities. This year my priority will be to continue to refine these compliance initiatives.

The last component of my mandate is to inform and educate stakeholders. The Lobbying Act is a fairly complex piece of legislation. Outreach is thus essential to ensuring compliance. I allocated $700,000 to outreach activities, including salaries for seven full-time employees. While developing educational tools and delivering outreach activities will continue, my priority this year will be to support the implementation of a new lobbyists' code of conduct.

The purpose of the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct is to ensure that lobbying is conducted according to the highest ethical standards. While the act has been amended several times over the years, the code has not been amended since it came into effect in 1997.

In 2013, I held a consultation to determine whether revisions to the code were warranted. The consultation indicated that, while the code was working well, there were areas of the code that could be strengthened. As required by the act, I consulted stakeholders on a revised code in the fall of 2014. The act also requires that I submit the code to a committee of the House of Commons, which I recently did.

I look forward to hearing the views from members of this committee, as I see this as an important and final stage in the consultation outlined in the act. Following consideration of your views, I will develop the necessary tools and guidance documents for lobbyists. Finally, I will publish the code in the Canada Gazette. At that time, I will indicate the date when the new code will come into effect. Until that date, the 1997 code remains in force.

I would like to highlight three key changes to the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct, which I submitted to you.

First, the scope of the code has been changed to be consistent with that of the act. The main objective of the act is to ensure transparency of communication between lobbyists and federal public office holders. As a result, I have removed all rules in the code that dealt with the interactions between lobbyists and their clients.

Second, I added a new principle concerning respect for Canada's democratic institutions to reflect the role lobbyists play in the public policy process.

Finally, changes were made to clarify the area of conflict of interest. I simplified the rule dealing with conflict of interest to reflect the 2009 Federal Court of Appeal decision, which included the concept of apparent conflicts of interest. I also added new rules, which provide additional clarity to lobbyists in the areas of preferential access, political activities, and the provision of gifts.

Some relationships between lobbyists and public office holders could create a sense of obligation, for example, when the lobbyist has financial or business dealings with the public office holder or when they are close personal friends. In such cases where a relationship would be perceived as giving preferential access, lobbyists should not lobby that public office holder. Some political activities could also create a sense of obligation. While we live in a democratic country where both political activities and lobbying are legitimate, lobbyists must ensure that no real or apparent conflict of interest is created when these two activities intersect. The code will explicitly prohibit lobbyists from lobbying members of Parliament and ministers when they have carried out political activities that could reasonably be seen to create a sense of obligation. These activities include organizing a fundraising campaign or event, writing speeches, preparing candidates for debates, and serving on the executive of an electoral district association.

The rule extends to a prohibition on lobbying public office holders who work in ministers' or MPs' offices. When certain political activities are carried out by a lobbyist it is reasonable to think that political staffers who serve at the pleasure of a member or minister may also feel a sense of obligation. By contrast, activities such as donating as per the Canada Elections Act, putting a sign on a lawn, being a member of an electoral district association, or attending fundraising events do not create a sense of obligation that would result in the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The final rule concerning conflict of interest prohibits lobbyists from offering a gift to a public office holder except when such a gift would be a normal expression of courtesy or protocol.

I would like to end by stating that I am very proud of my staff and all of their work and support in achieving my mandate. Thanks to their dedication and professionalism, I am able to look forward to all that we will once again accomplish this coming year. In particular, with their help, I look forward to implementing a new lobbyists' code of conduct.

Mr. Chair, this concludes my remarks. I welcome any questions you or the members may have.

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