NDP proposes two-year ban on lobbying by former officials
NDP government plans two-year ban while formulating more-detailed policy
The B.C. government has introduced a simple two-year ban on lobbying by former public officials, while pushing off many of the details by at least a year while it conducts a new round of “public consultation” on the file.
Attorney General David Eby said proposed legislation introduced Monday will address longstanding concerns that former cabinet ministers and political staff could take valuable inside information from government to lobbying firms and enrich their clients with their knowledge of government practices and priorities.
“The issue of people leaving government and going to lobbying firms … has a corrosive impact on people’s confidence in government,” Eby told reporters at the legislature.
“It’s a sense this happens all the time, and this is how government and lobbying firms operate and the decisions aren’t being made in the best interests of British Columbians. That’s why I think this legislation is important because it addresses that concern quite directly, in quite an aggressive way, and in quite a sweeping way. It will be a significant reform for British Columbia.”
The legislation addresses one of five recommendations made by B.C.’s independent Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists in a 2013 report. “It’s a good start,” said acting registrar Drew McArthur.
But Eby’s bill failed to address other past recommendations, such as mandating lobbyists to release monthly updates on who they met, removing a provision to allow in-house lobbyists to lobby for 100 hours before registering, recording the names of people or organizations that stand to benefit by the lobbying, and requiring a mandatory review of the lobbying act every five years.
Eby said those detailed reforms need more time, and he intends to embark on a one-year consultation period to get feedback.
McArthur was unimpressed with the delay, saying there are limited stakeholders in the province to consult, and his office’s recommendations have been made repeatedly over the years.
“We think they should get on with it,” he said in an interview Monday.
The bill is only four pages long (including the title page). If passed, it would prevent cabinet ministers, political staff (including ministerial assistants), parliamentary secretaries, deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers and executive directors from lobbying for 24 months after leaving government employment.
The prohibition would extend to equivalently ranked officials in universities, school boards, health authorities, hospitals, the Workers’ Compensation Board and Crown corporations or agencies.
However, ordinary MLAs, who aren’t in cabinet, are not covered by the rules and could lobby immediately the moment they leave office. Eby said regular MLAs do not have inside knowledge and so shouldn’t be subject to the same rules.
Political party officials aren’t covered either. For example, former NDP provincial director Michael Gardiner, who quit in 2016, is now lobbying the NDP government on behalf of clients like ride-hailing company Lyft and the Motion Picture Association of Canada. Though he has inside knowledge of the governing party, he is not subject to the same twoyear prohibition as a public official. Nor does the legislation limit how a former minister or staffer could become a “consultant” at a private firm, using that same insider knowledge without lobbying directly.
B.C.’s new rules compare to a five-year lobbying prohibition in Ottawa, two years in Quebec, six months in Saskatchewan and one year in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“We felt that two years made us a leader provincially,” said Eby.
B.C.’s lobbyist fines remain at $25,000 for non-compliance. A power-sharing deal between the Greens and NDP promised to “increase penalties” under an NDP government.
Eby said that is honoured because the fines now apply to more people.
The NDP tabled a private member’s bill while in opposition earlier in 2017 that had similar rules but never passed.
The Greens promised lobbying reform during the election, and praised the bill Monday.
People leaving government and going to lobbying firms … has a corrosive impact on people’s confidence in government.