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Senate should reject Commissioner of Lobbying re-appointment due to negligently weak enforcement record

Commissioner Nancy Bélanger has issued secret rulings letting off 98% of lobbyists she has found violating the lobbying law or code

Commissioner also gutted key rules in the lobbying code in ways that allow for unethical lobbying

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, November 14, 2024

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released its report on Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger’s negligently weak enforcement record, and called on the Senate to reject her reappointment for a second 7-year term.  Last week, without examining any details of Commissioner Bélanger’s enforcement record, MPs on the House Ethics Committee, and MPs overall in Parliament, approved the Trudeau Cabinet’s nomination of Commissioner Bélanger for a second term.

Democracy Watch’s 17-page report details Commissioner Bélanger’s bad enforcement record, including that:

1. Commissioner Bélanger has let off 98% (894 out of 911) of the lobbyists she has caught violating the Act or Code with a secret ruling that hid the identity of the lobbyist and did not identify the violator publicly.

2. In addition, Commissioner Bélanger and the RCMP are both currently violating the Access to Information Act by hiding their investigation records in 9 key cases of violations of the Lobbying Act that they both let go without any charges or penalties, likely including violations by lobbyists for Facebook, WE Charity, SNC-Lavalin and others that would have embarrassed the Trudeau Liberal Cabinet. Click here to see details.

3. As well, Commissioner Bélanger let off two lobbyists who clearly violated the Code by helping Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland win an election, and serving on her riding association executive, and then lobbying her office and department soon afterwards. Click here to see details.

4. Commissioner Bélanger also gutted key rules in the Code in 2023 in ways that allow for rampant unethical lobbying, ignoring the opposition to the changes from a coalition of 26 citizen groups with 1.5 million total supporters, and 41 lawyers and professors from across Canada, and 20,000+ voters. Click here for details.

5. Commissioner Bélanger also used her power to grant 67 exemptions to the (loophole-filled) 5-year prohibition on lobbying after leaving public office.

The 9 violations Commissioner Bélanger and the RCMP are currently hiding likely include the following situations that have never been ruled on publicly by the Commissioner:

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?

“Senators should not approve Commissioner Bélanger’s reappointment for a second term because of her negligently weak enforcement record, which MPs ignored showing that they don’t really care about stopping secret, unethical lobbying,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “Canadians deserve a commissioner of lobbying who enforces the law and lobbying ethics rules strictly, strongly and transparently, and who pushes for stronger ethics rules instead of gutting those rules.”

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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 Stop Bad Government Appointments Campaign