Item - 2016.EX13.2

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council enact amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 140, Lobbying, as outlined in Attachment 1 to the report (February 23, 2016) from the City Manager, that will:

a.  require that consultant lobbyists disclose their ultimate client.

b.  enable the Lobbyist Registrar to impose conditions for registration, continued registration or renewal of registration against a lobbyist who has been found in breach of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 140, Lobbying, as permitted by section 166 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006.

c.  enable the Lobbyist Registrar to impose a temporary ban against a lobbyist who has been found in breach of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 140, Lobbying from communicating with public office holders for a specified period of time, as permitted by section 166 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006.

This report responds to Executive Committee's request to undertake consultation on proposed amendments to the City’s Lobbying By-law and report further including results from jurisdictional research.  Executive Committee also asked for clarification of whether requests for meetings with Councillors or their staff resulted in actual meetings or phone calls.

The proposed amendments to the Lobbying By-law include:

-  Require lobbyists to disclose their ultimate client;

-  Enable the Lobbyist Registrar to impose conditions for registration pursuant to the City of Toronto

Act, 2006 after a breach of the Lobbying By-law; and

-  Enable the Lobbyist Registrar to impose a temporary ban on lobbying activities pursuant to the City of Toronto Act, 2006 after a breach of the Lobbying By-law.

The City Manager's Office, in consultation with the Lobbyist Registrar, completed research on twelve Canadian jurisdictions and implemented a public consultation process on the proposed amendments including an online survey, direct email and a public meeting.  The results of the jurisdictional research and public consultation were considered in the preparation of this report.

Disclosure of Ultimate Client

This report recommends that the City’s Lobbying By-law be amended to require lobbyists to disclose their ultimate client.  Notwithstanding that the jurisdictions reviewed do not require this disclosure in their lobbying legislation; it is appropriate in Toronto’s complex lobbying context.

The Federal Lobbyist Registry and Toronto Lobbyist Registry have both identified a recent trend of lobbying firms sub-contracting consultant lobbyists to undertake lobbying for a specific client.  This trend undermines the fundamental purpose of a lobbying regime, which is that lobbying is a legitimate activity but must be transparent in order that the public knows who is lobbying whom.  A requirement for consultant lobbyists to disclose their ultimate client will address this issue; and enhance transparency and accountability.

Enhanced Tools to Enforce the City's Lobbying By-law

This report recommends amendments to the Lobbying By-law to enable the Lobbyist Registrar to impose conditions for registration and a temporary ban on a lobbyist who has breached the Lobbying By-law.  These amendments provide a fair, escalating continuum of tools to the Lobbyist Registrar to enforce the City's Lobbying By-law.  This continuum provides preventative measures such as training and compliance plans for minor, incidental infractions of the by-law to more punitive measures (escalating temporary ban) for serious, repetitive and egregious breaches. 

Conditions for Registration

This amendment will formalize the tools (including training and compliance plans) the Lobbyist Registrar uses to encourage compliance after a minor or incidental breach of the by-law and enable their enforcement.  The City of Toronto Act, 2006 enables the Lobbyist Registrar to impose conditions on a registration. Toronto will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to include this authority in its lobbying legislation.

Temporary Ban

Many jurisdictions in Canada enable their Lobbyist Registrars/Commissioners to impose a temporary ban on lobbying for breaches to their lobbying legislation.  The time lines for a temporary ban proposed for Toronto are generally consistent with other jurisdictions. The public consultation process identified concerns about procedural fairness with respect to temporary ban.  A process for procedural fairness when the Lobbyist Registrar imposes a temporary ban on lobbying has been included in the recommended by-law amendment.

Legislative Changes

City Council recently requested amendments to the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to extend the time line for the Lobbyist Registrar to pursue charges under the Provincial Offences Act for breaches of the Lobbying By-law from 6 months to two-years and provide authority to the Lobbyist Registrar to impose administrative monetary penalties (AMPs).  These legislative changes will also provide the Lobbyist Registrar with a range of tools within an escalating regulatory regime based on the facts of the case and seriousness of the breach.

Clarification of Registration for Requests to Meet

The Lobbyist Registry is currently not able to distinguish whether a request for a meeting with a Councillor or their staff actually occurred.  The Lobbyist Registrar has included this request for consideration in the business analysis of its 2016 Information Technology State of Good Repair (SOGR) project to update and improve the lobbyist registry system.