City hall closes in on creation of lobbyist registry

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This article was published 13/04/2017 (3128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Industry representatives who lobby politicians and civic officials soon may be required to register their activities at city hall.

Mayor Brian Bowman announced details of an administrative report on Thursday that calls for the creation of city hall’s first lobbyist registry.

“Lobbyist registries are an accountability tool used across Canada at federal, provincial and municipal levels to encourage openness and transparency,” Bowman said in a statement released by his office. “It is important members of the public are able to see who is attempting to influence government decision makers and the reasons behind their efforts, and a tool like a lobbyist registry has been missing from Winnipeg’s City Hall for too long.”

The proposal will be presented to Bowman and members of his executive policy committee (EPC) on Wednesday. If it’s approved as expected, it will be sent to council for consideration.

The report comes in response to an initiative Bowman raised in early December, calling for the administration to bring back a report on how to register lobbyists. That move appeared to be prompted by harsh criticism from the construction industry toward some areas of the then-proposed 2017 budget.

This is not the first call for a lobbyist registry at city hall. Former councillors Dan Vandal and Scott Fielding called for one in 2014; a committee considered it but it never went any further.

A report from the city auditor in May 2015 also called for the creation of a lobbyist registry.

Council did approve inclusion of a lobbyist registry in early 2016 as part of the mandate for the new position of integrity commissioner.

“Just as we did with the integrity commissioner, we are moving forward and establishing a lobbyist registry within the city’s existing legislative authority and by doing so we are changing city hall for the better,” Bowman said. “We cannot afford to move backward, allowing old-school politics back into city hall. A lobbyist registry will help move us forward by ensuring the public gets to see who is trying to influence government decision making and why.”

The report to EPC defines a lobbyist as “an individual who when representing a financial or business interest, or the financial interest of a not-for-profit with paid staff, communicates with a Member of Council or City staff to try and influence a decision on governmental matters that are outside of the standard process.”

The report states that lobbyists would be required to register contact they have with members of council or civic staff within 10 days of touching base with the individual.

The report says registration is voluntary, because council has no legislative authority to impose penalties or require compulsory registration. The report suggests it will be up to the new integrity commissioner, Sherri Walsh, to propose ways to give the registry some teeth, with measures for enforcement and powers to investigate complaints and penalties, and then propose those changes to the province for legislative amendments to the Winnipeg Charter.

A spokesman for Bowman said he supports proceeding with the creation of the lobbyist registry before the legislative changes are in place, with the intent that Walsh will recommend the appropriate amendments to make the lobbyist registry worthwhile.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

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