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PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0510/01 1872110
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 062110Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9626
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000510 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV CA
SUBJECT: LOBBYING REFORMS LACK TEETH 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Canada has broadened and tightened federal 
regulation of domestic lobbying since 1985, creating an independent 
Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying in 2008, and building a new 
Canadian model to enhance transparency and integrity in government. 
However, the expanded role of the Commissioner remains a work in 
progress and the Office's enforcement capability lacks teeth.  The 
real test will be the Commissioner's ability to detect, avert, or 
punish in a future lobbying scandal, whenever that may come.  End 
summary. 
 
INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONER OF LOBBYING 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed Karen Shepherd as 
Canada's first federal Commissioner of Lobbying on June 30. 
Parliament had created the independent Office of the Commissioner of 
Lobbying in 2008, and Ms. Shepherd had served as interim 
Commissioner since July 2008.  The Commissioner is one of eight 
independent "agents of Parliament" who report directly to the 
Speakers of both the House of Commons and the Senate.  (The other 
seven are the Auditor General, the Chief Electoral Officer, the 
Official Languages Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, the 
Access to Information Commissioner, the Conflict of Interest and 
Ethics Commissioner, and the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.) 
 
 
¶3. (U) The House of Commons and the Senate each formally approved 
Ms. Shepherd's appointment after holding separate hearings.  As a 
means of minimizing the chances of political interference, only 
Parliament may dismiss the Commissioner "for cause," unlike many 
political appointees, who customarily serve "at the pleasure" of the 
Prime Minister and whom he may dismiss at any time.  Ms. Shepherd's 
term runs for seven years. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a meeting with PolMinCouns on June 30, Commissioner 
Shepherd confirmed that her position has no direct counterpart in 
the United States.  She pointed to similar positions in the U.S. 
Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives that oversee lobbying 
for each house, but commented that the Canadian Commissioner of 
Lobbying has a much broader mandate, encompassing senior federal 
government officials (Director General-level or above), officers of 
the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 
(RCMP), as well as parliamentarians and political staff who have 
contact with lobbyists. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Commissioner Shepherd also noted that each U.S. state and 
many municipalities have their own lobbying legislation, but that 
only six of Canada's ten provinces and three territories have their 
own statutes.  Among municipalities, only Toronto (Canada's largest 
city) has its own law.  However, in Quebec, provincial lobbying 
legislation also extends to municipalities. 
 
 
TIGHTENING THE RULES 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Parliament passed legislation requiring mandatory 
registration of lobbyists in 1985 and has successively tightened 
regulation.  The 2008 Lobbying Act built on significant amendments 
to enhance public disclosure in 2005 in the wake of a federal 
"sponsorship scandal" over the awarding of government advertising 
contracts in Quebec, and on Prime Minister Harper's flagship Federal 
Accountability Act in December 2006.  The Lobbying Act seeks to 
balance legitimate lobbying activity with transparency and free and 
open access to government.  According to Commissioner Shepherd, 
these reforms received broad support from all political parties, as 
well as from the lobbying community itself, which "welcomed" the 
added legitimacy the system provides.  She added that political 
events (public inquiries or "scandals" over government spending and 
Qevents (public inquiries or "scandals" over government spending and 
access) have been significant drivers for reform. 
 
MANDATORY REGISTRATION 
---------------------- 
 
 
¶7. (U) The 2008 Lobbying Act regulates individuals or companies 
lobbying federal elected members and senior government officials for 
payment (excluding organizations and individuals who lobby without 
fee).  The Registry of Lobbyists has been in effect since 1989, and 
a Lobbyists' Code of Conduct since 1996.  The law mandates 
disclosure of the identity of lobbyists and their clients, 
departments to be lobbied, subject matter, lobbying methods, dates, 
times and locations of meetings, and identity of officials 
contacted, as well as the amount and source of all monies received 
from the federal government.  As of June 30, 2009, the Registry had 
2,922 registered lobbyists (lobbying for payment), and identified 
4,147 active lobbyists overall. 
 
¶8. (U) The Office of the Commissioner posts monthly and quarterly 
lobbying activity reports online.  The Registry receives an average 
 
OTTAWA 00000510  002 OF 002 
 
 
of 2,000 online hits per quarter, mostly from media, but also from 
public officials and lobbyists themselves.  The law does not track 
lobbying by foreign countries, although Canadian individuals or 
companies lobbying on behalf of foreign states must identify their 
clients and report activity.  The 2008 Lobbying Act mandates a 
parliamentary review of the effectiveness of the legislation every 
five years. 
 
TRACKING COMPLIANCE, DOES IT WORK? 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) According to Commissioner Shepherd, overall compliance is 
"good."  The Office uses media monitoring and public complaints to 
track breaches of the Lobbying Act.  It employs seven investigators 
to identify and review potential violations, approximately 94 pct of 
which involve minor compliance matters (failure to report on time or 
to register) that the Office attempts to address primarily through 
written notification and request for compliance.  In more serious 
cases, the Office may refer cases to the RCMP for further 
examination and, thereafter, if warranted, to the Office of Public 
Prosecutions for criminal prosecution.  The Lobbying Act provides 
for fines of between C$50,000 and C$200,000 and prison terms of up 
to two years.  However, so far courts have never levied fines or 
jail sentences under the 2008 Act or preceding legislation.  The 
Commissioner tables investigation reports in Parliament, which then 
become available to the public. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Since 2004, the Office of the Commissioner and previous 
agencies have settled approximately 30 serious violations through 
mediation and referred 4 cases to the RCMP for further review. 
According to Commissioner Shepherd, RCMP had forwarded only one of 
these cases to the federal prosecutor, although eventually an 
alternative dispute settlement resolved the case.  Officials in the 
Commissioner's office underscored to PolMinCouns that violators 
would have to demonstrate "clear intent" to evade the Act and/or 
that their actions would have to be "extremely egregious" to warrant 
prosecution.  Federal prosecutors must weigh the "public interest" 
and limited resources in determining which cases to pursue.  British 
Columbia authorities have laid the most serious charges against an 
individual who had breached both the British Columbia and federal 
lobbying Acts; however, the provincial court merely ordered the 
offender to write an essay.  Overall, the Office of the Commissioner 
sees its role less to punish than to maintain compliance, and that 
the real penalty lies in "naming and shaming" possible offenders. 
Officials noted -- and parliamentary officials separately confirmed 
-- that the system has become self-policed, with Parliament and 
other covered officials often verifying with the Office's website 
whether individuals are registered as lobbyists before accepting 
appointments. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶11. (SBU) Canada's Parliament is creating a new and distinctly 
Canadian "model" for the regulation of lobbying that, coupled with 
parallel reforms to political party financing, aims to enhance 
government accountability.  The new mandate of the Commissioner of 
Lobbying remains a work in progress.  The system appears to be 
working, even in the absence of genuine "teeth" for compliance 
enforcement, but the real test will be the Commissioner's ability to 
detect, avert, or punish in a future lobbying scandal, whenever that 
may come. 
BREESE