Vaughan launches long-awaited lobbyist registry
Website gives those who want to do business with employees and elected officials at city hall rules and guidelines on what will be required of them in the coming years.

thestar.com
By Noor Javed
Feb. 2, 2017

The city of Vaughan is hoping a long-anticipated lobbyist registry will bring openness and transparency to the city - even though it won’t be mandatory until next year.

The city launched the optional registry on Jan. 1, with a website to give those who want to do business with employees and elected officials at city hall rules and guidelines on what will be required of them in the coming years.

A mandatory version of the registry will be launched in 2018, according to the website. This year is meant to be a phase-in of the system to help lobbyists, councillors and the public become familiar with the process, said Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua.

“The public should know if a decision is made what inputs may have been involved to push a member of council to make that decision,” said Bevilacqua, calling it an “educational year for all.”

Establishing a registry in Vaughan, where developers and councillors have been criticized in the past for their cozy relationships, has been a long time coming. The mayor has long pledged to bring in a registry in order to provide Vaughan citizens with “open, honest and transparent” government.

Toronto, Brampton, Hamilton and Ottawa have mandatory lobbyist registries, but have variations on how the registry works, and what is classified as lobbying. Vaughan considers lobbying “any communication with a public office holder by an individual who represents a business or financial interest with the goal of trying to influence and legislative action,” according to the website.

In Toronto and Hamilton, registration occurs prior to lobbying activity, while in Ottawa and Brampton, the registration can occur afterwards. In the case of Ottawa, registration can occur up to 15 business days after the lobbying activity - which allows for unplanned lobbying that occurs outside of a formal setting.

Vaughan is recommending their registry allow for registration up to five business days after the communication takes place. And while the definition of lobbyist can differ from city to city, city clerk, Jeffrey Abrams, who is currently managing the registry, said “essentially, if you are paid to be a lobbyist, you are a lobbyist.”

Rob MacDermid, an associate professor of political science at York University, said the whole purpose of a lobbyist registry is that “it has to be mandatory. Making it optional kind of defeats the purpose of it,” he said.

But he added: “Every municipality with large development interest...needs a lobbyist registrar so that fellow citizens can see who is influencing their elected officials.”

Currently, the Municipal Act allows municipalities to establish lobbyist registries and appoint registrars, but it is not mandatory.

Abrams said the city is still figuring out the details of how it will work - and who the lobbyist registrar will be next year.

“We wanted to use this year to give us an opportunity to make the system efficient and (to ensure) that the system is operating well before there are real consequences attached to it,” he said.

As of this week, there were seven lobbyists registered on the city’s website. Among them were a developer, a transportation consultant and a consultant looking to discuss “payment processing” with councillors. But some of the information required for the registry, posted online, was still incomplete. Abrams said they will be reaching out to lobbyists to make sure the forms are complete.

MacDermid said the onus should be on both lobbyists and “elected officials” to make sure they report to the registrar when they are being lobbied.

“I think putting the onus on developers is the wrong place to put the onus,” said MacDermid.

“Since the person we have elected into office is the person we have control over, we can’t really control the lobbyists,” he said. “Maybe this year will be a way for elected officials to practice that.”

Abrams said “it’s too early to answer” if that will be required of elected officials, even once the voluntary year is over.