Has Commissioner let off lobbyists to get reappointed by Trudeau Cabinet in December for another 7-year term? Her weak enforcement record and gutting of key rules in Lobbyists’ Code should stop her reappointment

Do the violations include unregistered, unethical lobbying by Facebook, WE Charity and/or SNC-Lavalin lobbyists, or unethical lobbying by Imperial Oil and other business lobbyists at events they sponsor?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, September 30, 2024

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger to stop hiding her rulings on 9 violations of the Lobbying Act that she referred to the RCMP, and that the RCMP referred back to her after letting all the lobbyists off the hook, as well as any other rulings she has made on any other violation referred back to her by the RCMP recently. If the RCMP decides not to prosecute and refers the matter back to the Commissioner, the Commissioner can still find the lobbyist guilty of violating any of the many rules in the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.

Commissioner Bélanger is up for reappointment by the Trudeau Cabinet in December for another 7-year term.  Is she hiding her 9 rulings because they would show she has let off lobbyists who are connected to the Cabinet or the Liberal Party, which should clearly disqualify her from being reappointed?

Democracy Watch filed an Access to Information Act (ATIA) request with the RCMP last October for the records of the investigations in the cases referred by the Commissioner, and another request with the Commissioner in May 2024 for her final rulings on each case.  The RCMP and Commissioner’s office have both been delaying releasing the records for months past the ATIA’s 30-day legal deadline for disclosing requested records. Democracy Watch also requested that the Commissioner disclose her rulings in April 2023, but she did nothing.

The Commissioner testified on April 16, 2024 before the House Ethics Committee that she had referred 15 cases to the RCMP since she became Commissioner in January 2018, and they had let off the lobbyists in 9 cases returned to her, and that the RCMP still had 4 cases under investigation (See p. 12 of testimony).

In her 2022-2023 annual report, Commissioner Bélanger stated:

“When the Commissioner refers a file to the RCMP, she must suspend her investigation. If the referral does not result in a charge or conviction, the Commissioner may decide to cease the investigation or continue to investigate and report to Parliament. Following the RCMP’s decision not to pursue 6 referrals, the Commissioner ceased 5 of those investigations as there was no compliance rationale to continue them due to changes in circumstances and the amount of time passed since the underlying events took place. As of March 31st, 2023, no decision had been made with respect to the sixth referred investigation returned to the Office.”

The 9 violations the RCMP referred back to the Commissioner may include:

1. The unregistered lobbying and favours for Cabinet ministers that Kevin Chan and others at Facebook did (click here to see DWatch’s April 2018 complaint to the Commissioner);
2. The unregistered lobbying that WE Charity lobbyists did from January 2019 to August 2020, and the trip gifts they gave to former Finance Minister Bill Morneau and his family;
3. The lobbying by former PCO Clerk Kevin Lynch for SNC-Lavalin that was not registered by CEO Neil Bruce (click here to see DWatch’s March 2019 complaint), and by SNC-Lavalin lawyer Robert Pritchard and others;
4. The lobbying by Imperial Oil of then-Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer, and by CPA Canada of Minister Karina Gould, at a May 2019 event they sponsored?

“It’s shameful that the RCMP and Crown prosecutors continue to take so long to investigate lobbyists who violate the law and to fail to prosecute most violations, and their weak record makes it clear that a new, fully independent anti-corruption police force is needed,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “By continuing to hide her rulings on nine lobbying violations, Commissioner Bélanger is not only protecting the lobbyists and politicians and public officials they were lobbying, she is also covering up situations and making it even more clear she should not be re-appointed for another seven-year term.”

Democracy Watch’s position is that Commissioner Bélanger should not be reappointed because of her weak enforcement record, and because she gutted key rules in the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, ignoring the opposition to the changes from a coalition of 26 citizen groups with 1.5 million total supporters, and 41 lawyers and professors, and 20,000+ voters (Click here for details).

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Stop Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign