On September 12, Cristina De Caprio becomes the lobbyist registrar for the city of Toronto, Ontario. De Caprio will replace Stephen Littlejohn, who served as the interim lobbyist registrar following the retirement of Linda Gehrke in the spring.

De Caprio’s duties will include implementing new additions to the lobbying law, which became effective in May. Among those newer responsibilities are the power of the registrar to impose certain conditions on new and existing registrations when a lobbyist has been found in violation of the law. The registrar also has the power to impose a temporary ban against a lobbyist found in violation of the law.

The City Council unanimously appointed Cristina De Caprio as lobbyist registrar at its July meeting.

Photo of the Toronto skyline by Christine Wagner on Wikimedia Commons.

Premier Brian Pallister announced the appointment of Andrew Micklefield, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Rossmere, as the government’s new house leader.

Micklefield was preceded by Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen, who held the position as house leader for a decade.

The formal swearing-in ceremony for Micklefield has yet to been determined.

On August 22, Government House Leader Yasir Naqvi released proposed amendments to a campaign finance reform bill the Ontario Legislative Assembly has been considering this session. The Election Finances Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, Bill 201, was introduced on May 17.

Changes in the newly proposed amendments include lower contribution limits. However, the amendments do not address the “cash-for-access system” that allows those making large political contribution to have personal and interactive contact, such as dinners, with public officials, according to The Globe and Mail. The bill has been considered since June by the Standing Committee on General Government. This and other amendments are expected to be debated in the coming weeks.

Photo of the Ontario Legislature by Antoien Cadotte on Wikimedia Commons.

Saskatchewan’s Lobbyist Act is officially effective today. Under the Act, people who are paid to lobby elected Saskatchewan government members and civil servants must register their activities.

Lobbyists have 30 days to register with the new online database which launched today at https://www.sasklobbyistregistry.ca.

A new system is expected to replace Alberta’s outdated lobbyist registry as early as November. The current system moves slowly, is incompatible with certain internet browsers, and does not produce accurate search results.

Lobbyists will need to create new accounts and re-register when the new system opens, as data from the old registry will not be imported. Migrating existing lobbyist data over to the new system would have been more expensive.

Kent Ziegler, the Office of the Ethics Commissioner’s chief administrative officer, believes it is better to start from scratch to ensure accuracy.

Integrity Commissioner Robert Marleau suggested updates to the city’s lobbying laws after investigating the practices of Sinking Ship Entertainment.

The investigation found Sinking Ship Entertainment failed to register as a lobbyist within the 15-day deadline during efforts to sell a playground conceptual design to the city. The company indicated it was unaware its communications with city staff counted as lobbying. Additionally, city councilors failed to advise the company about the need to register.

Marleau reluctantly gave Sinking Ship Entertainment permission to register its lobbying activity after the fact in order to achieve transparency.

The City Council of Côte Saint-Luc passed a formal resolution stating opposition to proposed changes to Quebec’s Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act.

The council opposes the measure that would require nonprofit groups to register as lobbyists. The resolution is being sent to the Quebec Lobbyists Commissioner and the Minister of Quebec Intergovernmental Affairs.

Today Ontario’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner will begin enforcing a new lobbying law for the province.

On December 9, 2014, the Legislative Assembly had passed an omnibus bill with changes to the province’s Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998. The law came into force by proclamation of the lieutenant governor. Schedule 8 of Bill 8, the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014, gives the Ontario Integrity Commissioner as Lobbyist Registrar new investigative and enforcement power for violations. Individuals found in violation can be prohibited from lobbying for up to two years.

Additional changes include a streamlined registration form for certain companies, a lower threshold registration for in-house lobbyists, and new questions on registration forms.

The first session of the 41st Legislature will adjourn for summer recess on June 30. They will return to session on October 3, 2016, unless members are called back by the speaker.

After summer recess, the first session is set to adjourn sine die on November 10, 2016.

The second session of the 41st Legislature will convene on November 21, 2016, with a speech from the throne.

On May 30, legislation to amend lobbying disclosure laws was introduced in the House of Commons.

If passed, Bill C-278 would require lobbyists to disclose whether they are funded by a foreign national, a non-resident corporation, or a non-resident organization and whether grassroots communications will be used in their lobbying efforts.

On May 26, the 2016 spring sitting of the first session of the 33rd Yukon Legislative Assembly adjourned. Neither Bill 104, the Paid Lobbying Act, nor Bill 107, the Act to Amend the Elections Act with Respect to Political Contributions, were passed by the Assembly.

The spring sitting commenced on April 7, 2016. No future session is currently scheduled. The Legislature will likely meet again in the spring of 2017.

Photo of the Yukon Legislative Assembly by US Mission Canada on Wikimedia Commons.

Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd found former Quebec premier Jean Charest did not breach federal lobbying rules when he contacted the Prime Minister’s Office earlier this year to discuss an oil pipeline project.

Shepherd stated Charest was not acting as an unregistered lobbyist because he was not paid by the pipeline company at the time of the call. Shepherd did not elaborate any further as the Lobbying Act requires all reviews and investigations be conducted in private.

Democracy Watch, a political accountability group, has filed an ethics complaint with Federal Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd questioning the permissibility of gifts of paid travel from various lobbying groups to senators and members of Parliament.

The group claims such gifts violate a rule prohibiting lobbyists from creating the appearance of a conflict of interest for public officials.

The complaint also requests an official other than Shepherd decide the issue because she has expressed interest in members of Parliament reappointing her to the position when her term ends in July.

Effective July 1, Ontario’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner will begin enforcing a new lobbying law for the province. On December 9, 2014, the Legislative Assembly had passed an omnibus bill with changes to the province’s Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998. The law is now coming into force by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Schedule 8 of Bill 8, the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014, gives the Ontario Integrity Commissioner as Lobbyist Registrar new investigative and enforcement power for violations. Individuals found in violation can be prohibited from lobbying for up to two years. Additional changes include a streamlined registration form for certain companies, a lower threshold registration for in-house lobbyists, and new questions on registration forms.