City's plan to create registry stalls

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This article was published 7/5/2015 (1139 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Attempts to create a lobbyist registry at city hall hit a hurdle Thursday.

At Thursday’s governance committee meeting, acting city auditor Brian Mansky provided officials with a report on the ongoing attempts to create a registry.

The registry, which would see lobbyists register publicly with the city, has been in the works since early 2014 after a motion was brought forth by then-councillor Scott Fielding, and was later revived by Coun. Ross Eadie in January.

Manksy said it would be an online searchable database that gives "accountability and transparency to lobbying activities," so the public and government can understand who is lobbying the government and for what purposes.

He estimated it would cost about $150,000 a year to run a registry, including the cost of employing a registrar, plus the cost of implementation.

However, the City of Winnipeg Charter does not have provisions to create such a registry, the committee learned.

Amendments would be necessary to give the registrar authority to enforce the registry and also to investigate activities, he said.

The committee received the report and asked the public service to prepare a second report on the amendments needed in the charter to create "an enforceable lobbyist registry that allows for investigative and enforcement activities."

It's important to note that any amendments to the charter must be approved by the province.