Alberta Office of the Ethics Commissioner Updated 2017 LOBBYISTS ACT

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Jeffry Parker
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1 LOBBYISTS ACT BACKGROUNDER Alberta Office of the Ethics Commissioner Updated 2017 Preamble to Lobbyists Act WHEREAS free and open access to government is an important matter of public trust; and WHEREAS lobbying public office holders is a legitimate activity; and WHEREAS it is desirable that the public and public office holders be able to know who is engaged in lobbying activities; and WHEREAS a system for the registration of paid lobbyists should not impede free and open access to government; and WHEREAS it is desirable that the public and public office holders be able to know who is contracting with the Government of Alberta and Provincial entities; and THEREFORE Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts [the Lobbyists Act]. LOBBYISTS ACT Definition of lobbying Broadly defined, lobbying is to communicate with a public officer holder (which includes MLAs; department employees; employees/officers/ directors of prescribed provincial agencies; and members of government boards, committees or councils) in an attempt to influence their decisions specifically, their decisions relating to legislation, programs, policies, directives, guidelines, grants or financial benefit. For consultant lobbyists, lobbying also includes arranging meetings. Grassroots communication is considered to be a form of lobbying under the Act, and if this method of communication is used in a lobbying campaign, this must be counted towards the 100 hour lobbying threshold (discussed below). Types of lobbyists There are 2 types of lobbyists under the Act: consultant lobbyists and organization lobbyists: Consultant lobbyists are paid by a client to engage in lobbying or arrange meetings with public office holders on behalf of the client. Organization lobbyists are in-house employees, officers or directors engaged in lobbying on behalf of their organization. Volunteers are exempt from application of the Act. 1

2 Requirements to Register Once a person qualifies as a lobbyist under the Act, there are certain obligations applicable under the Act, depending on whether the person is a consultant lobbyist or an organization lobbyist. Consultant lobbyists must file a registration within 10 days of entering into an undertaking to lobby on behalf of a client. It does not matter whether any lobbying has yet occurred. As a registration must be filed for each undertaking entered into with a client, many consultant lobbyists have multiple registrations in the system. The most senior officer of the consultant lobbyist firm must file the registration. For organization lobbyists, the most senior officer must file an initial return for the organization, then file a semi-annual renewal to update the return every six months. As a result, each organization only has one registration in the system that is updated periodically. 100-Hour Lobbying Threshold An organization is required to file a registration if it has one or more employees that have engaged, or will engage, either collectively or individually, in at least 100 hours of lobbying on behalf of the organization annually, not including preparation time. This is referred to as the 100 hour threshold. Annually is not defined in the Act. However, we interpret it as being based on the 12 month period starting from when an organization employs someone (in-house) to lobby. Once that person (or collectively with others in the organization) accumulates 100 hours of lobbying, or if their duties include lobbying for 100 or more hours annually (individually or collectively) even if they haven t lobbied yet, the organization would be required to register within 2 months. Some Non-profit Organizations are Exempt There is also an exemption under the Act for certain non-profit organizations. A non-profit organization, association, society, coalition or interest group that meets the 100 hour lobbying threshold is required to register if it is constituted to serve management, union or professional interests or if a majority of its members are profit-seeking enterprises. As many non-profit organizations do not fall within this category, they are not required to register, even if they are actively lobbying. To determine if a non-profit organization is exempt from registering, we review the mandate of the organization to determine whether its purpose falls within one of those three areas (management, union or professional interests), as well as whether the majority of its members are profit-seeking enterprises. 2

3 LOBBYIST REGISTRATIONS Type of Information Included on Registrations The specific information that consultant lobbyists and organization lobbyists need to include on their returns is detailed in the Act. Some examples are: background information on the firm/organization/client; the names of the lobbyist(s) engaged in the lobbying activities; the name of the department or prescribed provincial entity being lobbied; the subject matter and details of the lobbying activities; for consultant lobbyists only, the undertaking start date and end date. Once approved, all registrations are published in the public registry and are searchable by the public from the website. INTERPRETATION Many lobbyists contact our office regarding their registrations whenever they require assistance. The questions fall into three main categories: 1. account-related requests (information on how to change the designated filer or account manager; setting up new accounts; password issues); 2. advice and assistance on completing registrations, including Initial Returns, Notices of Change, Semi-annual renewals and Notices of Termination; 3. to report or receive assistance with regard to technical issues encountered. Many lobbyists also contact our office for general advice with regard to interpretation of the Act. Some examples of advice requested include: whether a specific organization is required to register; whether certain activities qualify as lobbying activities; reporting funding in a registration; how much information needs to be reported in the registration; what a prescribed Provincial entity is; the 100 hour threshold; how to complete the registration properly based on the particular roles of individuals; and whether or not lobbying municipalities needs to be registered. Many of these answers are now available on the Frequently Asked Questions page of our website. Please consult this page prior to contacting our office as it may provide the information sought. 3

4 COMPLIANCE ENFORCEMENT Working with lobbyists to assist them in understanding their obligations under the Act and the functions and processes of the Registry are key elements in our proactive approach to achieving compliance with the Act and reducing the amount of enforcement required. However, the Lobbyists Act came into force in 2009, and is no longer new legislation. Lobbyists should now be familiar with the legislation and their obligations under the Act. In future, our office will be placing a greater emphasis on enforcement of the provisions of the Lobbyists Act, including the designated time periods to complete required filings and the requirement to register. Compliance going forward will largely involve assessing administrative penalties for late filings. Our office also has the ability to conduct investigations for breaches of the Act as necessary. HIGHLIGHTS OF ANNUAL REPORT Number of Users: There was a 16% increase in registered users in past year from the previous year. Website Activity: There was a 26% increase in number of visits in 2015/16 from previous year. Top 5 subject matters for lobbying in 2015/16 (starting with most popular): Energy, Environment, Health and Wellness, Finance and Economic Development. Bottom 5 subject matters for lobbying in 2015/16 (starting with least popular): Sports, Housing, Forestry, Service Alberta and Transportation. RECENT LEGISLATIVE CHANGES The Lobbyists Act was amended in December of Two significant amendments were a change to the contracting prohibition in section 6, and a change to the definition of public officer holder for reporting purposes. Under the newly amended section 6: A person (defined as an individual or a corporation) can no longer lobby if they hold a contract for paid advice with the government, or enter into a contract to provide paid advice to government if they lobby. They must choose one role or the other, and cannot do both. However, an individual or corporation is still permitted to lobby if another person associated with them (as defined in s.1 (5) of the Act) holds a contract for providing paid advice, or to enter into such a contract if a person associated with that person lobbies, provided that the lobbying and the contract are with respect to different subject matters. The term person in s. 6 does not include partnerships. Therefore, although a member or employee of a partnership must choose to either hold a contract to provide paid advice to 4

5 the government or lobby (as they cannot do both), another member or employee of that partnership may either provide paid advice to the government or lobby as long as the advice and lobbying contracts for the two members or employees of the partnership are not on the same subject matter. In addition, the definition of former public officer holder for the purposes of reporting on a registration includes a wider range of individuals than before including former members of the Executive Council, the Premier s staff, or Ministers staff; former designated office holders; any individual who formerly occupied a prescribed position with a prescribed Provincial entity; and former assistant deputy ministers or those who occupied a senior executive position in a department; and now one is only required to state that they are a former public officer holder in the last 2 years (was previously 5 years) Finally, the Alberta Accountability Act, which received Royal Assent on December 18, 2014, also resulted in certain changes being made to the Conflicts of Interest Act which impact a former public official s ability to lobby. Former Ministers, and former members of the Premier s and Minister s staff, are now restricted from lobbying for a period of 12 months from the last day their position, or appointment, was held. For more information on the Lobbyists Act or lobbyist registry, visit our website or contact our office. Lana S. Robins Lobbyist Registrar and General Counsel Telephone: (780) Effi Kaoukis Executive Assistant to the Lobbyist Registrar Telephone: (780) Main Office Office of the Ethics Commissioner Suite 1250, Street NW Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5K 2J8 Telephone: (780) Fax: (780) registrar@ethicscommissioner.ab.ca Web Site: This brochure is provided for general information purposes only and it cannot be relied upon as advice. Please contact our office if you need further assistance in determining if you are a lobbyist. 5

REGISTRAR, LOBBYISTS ACT OFFICE OF THE ETHICS COMMISSIONER PROVINCE OF ALBERTA

REGISTRAR, LOBBYISTS ACT OFFICE OF THE ETHICS COMMISSIONER PROVINCE OF ALBERTA February 1, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 1 TYPES OF LOBBYISTS... 1 1. Organization Lobbyist... 1 2. Consultant Lobbyist...