ON Lobbying - a newsletter

Information & Resources for Lobbyist Registration in Ontario

Issue 23

June 2022

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With a new parliament now elected, it is time for all lobbyists to review and update their registrations. We hope you find this checklist handy:

New parliament, new legislation

Remember to update the names of bills and regulations about which you are lobbying. Many bills died on the order paper in the last parliament and are no longer active. Similarly, many new pieces of legislation will be introduced, and these must all be appropriately identified on each registration.

New faces, new responsibilities

Pay close attention to the lobbying activity section of your registration, as well as the list of lobbying targets. This should be updated to reflect new ministers, new MPPs, committee membership, and critic portfolio assignments.

Your lobbying activity must be updated to reflect your current activity, with the current targets. Your activity may have formerly been directed at an MPP who had deep interest in a particular policy area, but they did not seek re-election and the new MPP has different interests. Your registration should be updated to reflect the actual targets of your lobbying activity – in this case, the MPP (identified by riding) should be removed from the registration if you do not plan on lobbying them.

As of this newsletter date, new cabinet ministers and parliamentary assistant assignments have not yet been made. Remember that when these are announced and if you plan to lobby the offices of these individuals, you will need to reflect these changes on your registration. The Lobbyists Registration Act,1998 requires that new information or changes to the information in your registration must be provided within 30 calendar days of when the changes occur or knowledge of the information is acquired.

Information about your obligations regarding your registration(s) post-election is available on our website.

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Did you work or volunteer on a provincial election campaign?

Was the candidate elected?

Is someone you interacted with during the campaign now going to work in an MPP’s or minister’s office?

If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, you should consult our Guidance on Political Activity for Lobbyists and seek an Advisory Opinion from the Integrity Commissioner about whether you can lobby the public office holders you worked with or for during the campaign.

Political Activity Guidance

Inviting a public office holder to an event? Be aware of the gift rules.

The number of in-person events was drastically reduced in the last two years, meaning that lobbyists offering tickets to public office holders was infrequent. This has changed in recent months and we have noticed an increase in questions from both lobbyists and elected officials and their staff about the offering and acceptance of tickets to events.

If you are lobbying a public office holder and you offer them a ticket or invitation to an event, this is considered a gift. It means that you could be placing the public office holder in a conflict of interest. This is a breach of the Lobbyists Registration Act,1998. If you are hosting an event or have tickets to an event organized by a client or a third party, you should be careful about offering tickets to the public office holders you are lobbying.

We provide guidance on gifts on our website. You can also consult Interpretation Bulletin #11 “What is a conflict of interest and how does it affect my lobbying?” Lobbyists who are thinking of offering event tickets to public office holders should contact the Office for an Advisory Opinion.
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