Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

Comité permanent de l'accès à l'information, de la protection des renseignements personnels et de l'éthique

For immediate release

Ottawa, May 14, 2012 -

The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Presents a Report On the Statutory Review of the Lobbying Act

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics released its 3rd report today. This report follows the statutory review of the Lobbying Act conducted by the Committee pursuant to section 14.1 of the Act. In anticipation of the statutory review of the Act, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying circulated a report titled “Administering the Lobbying Act — Observations and Recommendations Based on the Experience of the Last Five Years”, which contained nine recommendations to amend the Act. As well, the Committee also heard testimony from numerous witnesses who also submitted recommendations to amend the Act.

One of the eleven recommendations endorsed by the Committee was the Commissioner of Lobbying’s recommendation to empower the Commissioner to impose administrative monetary penalties.

Overall the Committee noted that although amendments to the Act were proposed, the overall tenor of the testimony suggested that the Act is generally working well in accordance with its objectives. “The Committee hopes that this report will help the Government further improve the Lobbying Act by ensuring that it its provisions function in accordance with the objectives of the Act set out in its Preamble,” stated the Chair of the Committee, Pierre Luc Dusseault, M.P. (Sherbrooke).