Lobbyists are pushing back at a proposed $80 annual limit on hospitality for MPs, saying the amount is too low and would make tracking how much had been spent on guests at parliamentary receptions “nearly impossible.”
The new rules in an updated lobbying code are designed to regulate the entertaining of MPs. Manon Dion, spokesperson for Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger, told The Globe and Mail that Ms. Bélanger felt “that hospitality has gone unregulated for far too long.”
Lobbying groups also warned the Commons ethics committee on Friday that proposed changes to the code could put young people off from volunteering for political campaigns, including leafletting for candidates.
But their claims were condemned as scaremongering by Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch. He told The Globe that the proposed limits on hospitality would allow two to three meal receptions for MPs a year, and multiple coffee meetings.
The revised code would not prevent campaign activity by volunteers, such as leafletting or knocking on doors. To be captured they would have to work “near-full-time” or have “frequent and/or extensive interaction” with a candidate or party official, he said.
Mr. Conacher also accused Ms. Bélanger of a “systematic gutting of ethical lobbying rules” by proposing a shorter cooling off period for lobbyists who have worked on politicians’ election campaigns, in her proposed update of the code.
He said it will mean “lobbyists will be able to buy off cabinet ministers and MPs by managing their election campaigns and raising thousands of dollars for them while lobbying them.”
Current rules prevent the lobbying of an elected official by people who have worked on their political campaign and impose a four-year cooling-off period.
The Lobbying Commissioner has proposed lowering this period to either one year or two years, depending on the significance of the role the lobbyist played. High-profile campaign work would trigger a 24-month ban, while “other political work” would lead to a one-year cooling off period.
Megan Buttle, president of the Government Relations Institute of Canada, which represents lobbyists, remarked that all the MPs on the committee rely on volunteers to help them during their campaigns.
“While we accept the cooling off period may be necessary for those within senior high-profile and strategic roles,” she said, “unpaid volunteers who support campaigns in lower and less prominent roles should not be subjected to cooling off periods that potentially impact their livelihoods.”
Kyle Larkin, treasurer of the Public Affairs Association of Canada, suggested the rules continue to apply to those holding senior roles on political campaigns – but not “for those door-knocking, canvassing, distributing campaign literature and other minor campaign activities.”
Ms. Buttle said the current hospitality rule “functions well” and does not need to be changed to a more complex system with spending limits.
The current lobbying code says: “Never offer – directly or indirectly – hospitality to an official that you lobby or expect to lobby, other than low-value food or beverage for consumption during an in-person meeting, lobby day, event or reception.”
The proposed new rules set limits of $40 a person, and an annual limit of $80.
“To track the proposed annual hospitality limit of $80 per official by tracking MPs, senators and other POHs [public office holders] who have previously attended receptions and received hospitalities would be nearly impossible and impose undue burden on some members,” Ms. Buttle said.
She said sticking to “reasonable hospitality” rather than a “dollar limit is more appropriate and allows for more common-sense application.”
Shannin Metatawabin, chief executive officer of the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, said spending limits would add clarity for organizations like his “without deep pockets.” But he said in different areas of the country the cost of food differs, with higher prices, for example, in Nunavut. He added, “When it says reasonable right now, that makes a lot of sense.”
In the revised code the Lobbying Commissioner could grant exemptions to annual spending limits to address regional prices, protocol, or special dietary requirements, her spokesperson Ms. Dion said.
NDP MP Matthew Green asked whether an Indigenous “cultural exemption” might be appropriate for some “cultural exchanges,” such as the offering of a gift to an elder or knowledge keeper.