The Ethics Committee of the Canadian House of Commons issued a report this month making recommendations for the House and the executive branch, including recommending greater recording-keeping when meeting with lobbyists. Specifically, the committee urges the Government of Canada to implement a mandatory rule requiring, except in exceptional circumstances, that senior public office holders be accompanied by at least one member of staff, for note taking purposes, during any meeting with lobbyists.

On June 10, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics issued a 116-page report titled “Questions of Conflict of Interest and Lobbying in Relation to Pandemic Spending,” which calls for greater transparency and accountability in procurement processes with specific recommendations.

Some of the recommendations include that the Government of Canada remove the significant part of duties threshold from the Lobbying Act for in-house lobbyists and clarify lobbying rules applicable to founders of organizations that may lobby government; introduce legislative changes to the Lobbying Act to give the Commissioner of Lobbying greater powers to investigate, issue fines and impose lobbying bans to those who disregard the Act; and ensure better compliance with the post-employment obligations of a public office holder, whether through greater sanctions or other means.

The report, a study originally started in 2020 to address general safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest in federal government expenditure policies, updated its focus to include pandemic spending and ways to counter the ethical concerns arising from the WE Charity scandal, in which former Finance Minister Bill Morneau was found to have violated the Conflict of Interest Act. It details events surrounding the awarding of the contribution agreement for the administration of the Canada Student Service Grant; addresses issues concerning communications by a former reporting public office holder with government officials; and the federal government’s award of a ventilator contract during the pandemic.

The committee made a total of 23 recommendations, including that the Government of Canada establish oversight and accountability mechanisms that are specifically designed to ensure rapid and transparent allocation of federal funds during emergency situations.

Elections Canada recently published the updated limits on expenses for regulated activities of third parties involved in federal elections in Canada.

The Canada Elections Act imposes a limit on expenses a third party can incur for regulated political activities.

For the period of April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, a third party is prohibited from incurring overall election advertising expenses of a total amount of more than $525,700 during a general election. The previous limit was $521,850. For the same period of April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, a third party is prohibited from incurring election advertising expenses in a given electoral district of a total amount of more than $4,506 during a general election. The previous limit was $4,473.

Adjustments are made annually based on a formula of a base amount multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor in effect for the period.

The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada has released information concerning COVID-19 emergency funding and registration requirements online.

Several key points are emphasized by the Office: communications with public office holders about the making, developing or amending of a government-funding program linked to COVID-19 are registrable activities; disclosure of any non-repayable portion of COVID-19 relief funding received¸ from any level of government entity, foreign or domestic, must be disclosed in a lobbyist’s registration; and updates to registrations are required no later than 15 days after the end of the month in which the funding was provided.

Examples of COVID-19-related funding programs include the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Business Account, and the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance.

The disclosure of funding by lobbyists is not limited to COVID-19 relief or to lobbying the federal government. Other reportable government funding includes all grants, non-repayable contributions, forgiven portions of government loans, and any other non-repayable funding.

Disclosure is still not required for repayable contributions, repayable portions of government loans, tax credits, refunds, exemptions, rebates, remissions of taxes, and payment of goods or services contracts.

Applying to a federal government funding program linked to COVID-19 alone is not a registrable activity.

On February 13, voters in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador will go to the polls to vote for candidates for the House of Assembly. The original fixed election date was October 10, 2023.

However, because Premier Andrew Furey was sworn in August 19, 2020, an election then became required to be held within one year of the swearing-in. Furey replaces former Premier Dwight Ball, who resigned in 2020 after questions arose about various government-awarded contracts.

This is the first time in the province elections have been held on a Saturday.

Elections Canada has published the federal contribution limits for the 2021 calendar year.

In 2021, individuals may contribute up to $1,650 to independent candidates, leadership candidates, registered parties, and to, in total, all of the registered associations, nomination contestants and candidates of each registered party.

The limits also apply to any unpaid balance of loans made during a contribution period and the amount of any loan guarantees made during a contribution period.

The limits increase annually by $25 on January 1.

The Commissioner of Lobbying is concluding a public input period to determine whether changes to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct are necessary.

From November 2 to December 11, 2020, Commissioner Nancy Belanger sought input from the public about its views and perspectives on the standards of behavior federal lobbyists should follow.

The Lobbyists Code of Conduct, which is a mandatory set of rules all registered consultant and in-house federal lobbyists must follow, was last amended in 2015.

The rules, while general in scope, include a focus on transparency, professionalism, and conflicts of interest. After input is received, the commissioner intends to create a summary of the responses and draft any amendments to the Code of Conduct. Any updated code will be referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Depending on the degree of change contemplated by the commissioner, a further round of consultation may be initiated in 2021.

On October 26, federal by-elections in Canada will be held for the electoral district of York Centre (Ontario) and Toronto Centre (Ontario) to fill two vacancies in the House of Commons.

On August 24, Perrault had received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for Toronto Centre (Ontario) became vacant following the resignation of Bill Morneau. Morneau resigned amid controversies dealing with his involvement with the WE Charity scandal.

On September 1, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, had received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for York Centre (Ontario) became vacant following the resignation of Michael Levitt, who left his seat to become the CEO of the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies.

The Elections Canada offices in York Centre and Toronto Centre are expected to open soon, according to its press release. As a safety measure because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Elections Canada plans to implement physical distancing at polling places and Elections Canada offices.

On June 10, the House of Commons will sit by order of a recall by the Speaker Anthony Rota, who issued the proclamation on June 8. Lawmakers are being recalled to consider a bill to enact certain measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The House had agreed to meet following the conclusion of the proceedings of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate, currently on an extended adjournment, is scheduled to next meet on June 16.

Since the start of safety measures to deal with the pandemic, the House and the Senate have been recalled under special standing orders for short one-day sessions.

On March 24, the Canadian House of Commons will reconvene for a one-day session to vote on legislation to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers are expected to allocate more than $80 billion in emergency aid for the nation.

The Canadian Senate is then expected to meet for a one-day session on March 25 to vote on that legislation.

On March 13, the Parliament had adjourned until at least April 20 because of the emerging health crisis.

After completing its legislative business today, the Parliament of Canada will adjourn until at least April 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The political parties have agreed to the adjournment, according to Conservative House of Commons leader Mark Strahl.

“Members of Parliament are speaking with one voice today to say that we will do our part,” said MP Peter Julian on behalf of the New Democratic Party, according to Politico.

Additionally, on March 12, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, was diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus.

Even while adjourned, the government will still have the ability to allocate federal funds to try to stem the spread of the virus.

On January 20, a new Lobbyist Registry program and associated By-law and Code of Conduct were approved for Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.

The new lobbying law defines lobbying as any communication with a public office holder by an individual representing a business or financial interest with the goal of trying to influence any legislative action, including any development, introduction, passage, defeat, amendment or repeal of a bylaw, motion, resolution or the outcome of a decision on any matter before the Town Council, a committee of the Council, or staff member acting under delegated authority.

The registry, maintained by the Collingwood’s Accountability Officer acting as the Lobbyist Registrar, will identify three types of lobbyists:

• • Consultant lobbyists
  • In-house lobbyists
  • Voluntary unpaid lobbyists acting on behalf of certain entities

While registration is mandatory, not-for-profit groups are not required to register for lobbying activities, unless the group has paid staff and the communication in question falls under the definition of lobbying.

Additionally, community groups and associations whose communications state a position for a general community benefit, either town-wide or local, do not have to register.

As of January 20, 2020, lobbyists are expected to register their name and the reasons for their contact with a public office holder. However, penalties will not begin to be enforced until June 1, 2020, in order to allow the first five months of the registry to operate as an educational period dedicated to learning how and when to use the tool.

Elections Canada has published the federal contribution limits for the 2020 calendar year.

In 2020, individuals may contribute up to $1,625 to independent candidates, leadership candidates, registered parties, and to, In total, all of the registered associations, nomination contestants and candidates of each registered party.

The limits also apply to any unpaid balance of loans made during a contribution period and the amount of any loan guarantees made during a contribution period.

The limits increase annually by $25 on January 1.

In Ontario, individual contribution limits for the period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, have be increased by $25, to $1,625.

This limit applies to contributions made as both money and goods or services given to a political party, candidate or constituency association to support the election of a candidate to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The contribution limit is applicable to both party and non-party candidates in a campaign period and applies to a leadership contestant of a party in a year holding a leadership contest or a calendar year during which the contestant is required to be registered.

Campaign contribution limits increased in British Columbia for 2020 to $1,253.15 for contributions to registered political parties, including their candidates, nomination contestants and registered constituency associations.

Additionally, individuals can contribute up to $1,253.15 to independent candidates and leadership contestants, if a leadership contest is called in 2020.

These limits are updated annually.

The previous limits were $1,225.17 in 2019, and $1,200 in 2018.

Also increased to $370 is the limit of a fee paid to attend a leadership convention or other convention of a political party without counting toward the $1,253.15 limit contribution limit.