Outgoing lobbyists commissioner pleads for tougher regulations
They talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.
In his parting shot as the province’s lobbyists commissioner Thursday, François Casgrain pulled no punches — ripping Quebec’s political class for dragging its feet on beefing up a key weapon in the fight for ethical politics: the lobby laws.
“Actions have to follow words,” Casgrain said tabling his final report before retiring after an eightyear term in office. “Do they lack convictions? Clearly. When you want something to move forward you find ways to make it happen.”
And, he had a warning to those in the ivory towers of power: the public is no mood for a less open government, so it needs to prove it is serious.
“You know, we’re not in the year 2000 or the 1980s,” Casgrain said. “The public wants transparency, a great transparency in all aspects of public life.”
Casgrain said four successive governments in Quebec have promised to make the lobby laws tougher and all got bogged down. He, for example, believes the number of groups that have to declare themselves lobbies needs to be expanded.
He would add non-profit organizations to the list of organizations that need to publicly acknowledge they are acting as lobbies. Right now, the law only requires lobbies acting on behalf of commercial interests to declare themselves in a public registry.
And, he wants to dramatically increase the fines for violations of the laws.
Many of the ideas are contained in a piece of legislation, Bill 56, which has been languishing on the order paper since November 2015.
“This bill needs to be adopted before the end of the current legislature (in October 2018),” Casgrain writes in his final report. “It’s urgent. The status quo is no longer an option and no excuse can justify another delay in the revision of the laws.
“The actions of those in public office need to be consistent with their public statements about transparency and ethics.”
Pointing to a huge pile of reports on the same theme in front of him, Casgrain said after Bill 56 was tabled, the cabinet said it needed yet another study on the impact it would have. That study now has been gathering dust for two years.
Although he conceded he’s powerless to move things ahead, he ventured some theories on why the various parties are not pressing for changes. Some groups resist declaring themselves lobbies because of the public stigma, he said.
Others simply believe their work is not a form of lobbyism or that their projects could be delayed or considered less legitimate.
Casgrain said he leaves the job disappointed with the lack of progress but not with bitterness.
“I think it was my duty now, as the outgoing commissioner, to assert my case,” Casgrain said.
He explained he is retiring at the relatively young age of 60 for health reasons. Casgrain said a cancer he fought off a few years ago recently returned.
“This changes your perspective on life, and this is the main reason I am leaving,” Casgrain said. “So today I am pleading, for a last time, to get things moving.”
Asked if he thinks his watchdog role improved things in a province where ethical issues are almost daily news, Casgrain said yes.
“Is politics cleaner? I think so,” Casgrain said. “I think the people who invest now in politics try not only to do their best but also to respect certain rules of ethics and transparency.”
As Casgrain shuffled his papers and prepared to leave the news conference room, reporters individually approached him to shake his hand and wish him well with his health.