Wednesday, March 23, 2011

OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch released the letter (en français) it sent Monday to the House Access, Privacy and Ethics Committee setting out 30 accountability questions they must ask federal Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd today concerning her very weak disclosure and enforcement record over the past three years, and the many loopholes in the federal Lobbying Act and Code.  Commissioner Shepherd is testifying before the Committee today from 3:30 to 4:30 pm as the Committee begins its mandatory five-year review of the Act.

"If the House Committee members fail to ask Lobbying Commissioner Shepherd the thirty questions, they will continue to let her off the hook for a worse disclosure record, and equally bad enforcement record, as the former disgraced Integrity Commissioner, and they will continue to hide the huge loopholes in the federal lobbying disclosure law," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition 
(To see details about the loopholes, click here).

Half of the 30 questions are aimed at having Commissioner Shepherd finally disclose publicly, and in detail, what she has done with at least 100 cases of alleged violations of either or both the Lobbying Act or Lobbyists' Code of Conduct that Democracy Watch estimates she has become aware of since she became Commissioner in 2008.  Almost half (43) of the cases are more than three years old, and were inherited by Commissioner Shepherd from former Registrar of Lobbyists Michael Nelson (including five complaints filed by Democracy Watch between 2001 and 2004).

Commissioner Shepherd has released only three public rulings in the past three years (finally, in mid-February, one ruling about two lobbyists involved in the September 2009 Lisa Raitt fundraising event, the other about a lobbyist who failed to register in 2004, and just last week another ruling on Democracy Watch's complaint filed in October 2009, a ruling that concluded that a fundraising event held by Conservative MP Rick Dykstra in 2009 did not violate Rule 8 of the Lobbyists' Code). 

In testimony before a House committee in December 2010, Commissioner Shepherd revealed that she had, with still secret rulings, let at least 16 lobbyists off the hook even though she had clear evidence that they had violated either the Act or Code (and she has not released any of the rulings nor disclosed the identity of any of the 16 lobbyists).

The other half of the 30 questions are about the huge loopholes in the Lobbying Act, and problems with interpretations and applications of the Act's and Code's measures by Commissioner Shepherd that have created other huge loopholes.

It is not true, as many media outlets have reported in covering the Bruce Carson scandal, that the Lobbying Act prohibits former political staffers from lobbying government for five years after leaving office.

The Act only prohibits former political staffers from being a registered lobbyist for five years.  Because of three huge loopholes in the Act, it is legal to lobby without registering (if you are not paid to lobby, lobby only about the enforcement and/or administration of laws, or lobby for a business less than 20 per cent of your work time).

Because it is legal to lobby without registering, it is actually legal for any federal cabinet minister, ministerial staff or adviser, Cabinet appointee or senior government official to leave their job and lobby the federal government (in secret, without registering) the next day.

Democracy Watch is also calling on the Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of the Commissioner of Lobbying office similar to that completed for the now disgraced former Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's office, and sent a 12-page letter to Commissioner Shepherd and the Auditor General on February 22, 2011 setting out details and rulings Democracy Watch believes Commissioner Shepherd has been legally required to disclose publicly in the past three years in order to properly perform her duties as an Officer of Parliament.

"In Democracy Watch's opinion, the federal Commissioner of Lobbying must be audited by the Auditor General because her disclosure record is weaker, and her enforcement record is as weak, as the record of the disgraced former Public Sector Integrity Commissioner," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition.  "Combined with huge loopholes in the law left open by the so-called Accountability Act, and the fact that the RCMP and Crown prosecutors have failed to charge or prosecute anyone for violating the lobbying law in the past 22 years, it is clear that the federal lobbying law and ethics enforcement system is an ongoing joke." (To see details about the loopholes, click here)

Commissioner Shepherd has been with the lobbying enforcement office since 2004, became acting Commissioner in July 2008, and full Commissioner in 2009.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch
Organizer of the CoffeeParty.ca movement
Tel: (613) 241-5179  
dwatch@web.net

Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd's weak enforcement record

Changes needed to ensure transparent, ethical federal government lobbying and to ensure the Commissioner of Lobbying enforces rules effectively

To see the Commissioner of Lobbyists' 2009-2010 Annual Report, click here, and 2008-2009 Annual Report, click here

To see the Registrar of Lobbyists' 2007-2008 Annual Report, click here, and 2006-2007 Annual Report, click here

Democracy Watch's Government Ethics Campaign

Democracy Watch's Money in Politics Campaign

Democracy Watch's opinion is that Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd has not been acting properly as an Officer of Parliament, nor has she been effectively enforcing the Lobbying Act (Act) and the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct (Lobbyists' Code), as follows:

• as detailed in Democracy Watch's February 23, 2011 news release, and the above news release,  Commissioner Shepherd's disclosure record of how many complaints she has received, as well as reviews and investigations she has initiated, and her rulings on each situation, is worse than the former disgraced federal Integrity Commissioner;
  
• Commissioner Shepherd does not randomly audit anyone's activities, including former public office holder's activities, to ensure they are complying with the rules she enforces that: require anyone paid to lobby to register and disclose details about their lobbying (sections 5, 7 and 7.1 of the Act); prohibit any registered lobbyist from being paid a contingency (success) fee (section 10.1 of the Act); prohibit former public office holders from being a registered lobbyist for five years after they leave office (section 10.11 of the Act), and; prohibit lobbyists from proposing or doing anything that puts a public office holder in a conflict of interest (Rule 8 of the Lobbyists' Code);
  
• Commissioner Shepherd has taken more than three years to rule on five past complaints filed by Democracy Watch concerning favours lobbyists have done for past public office holders, and has not even contacted Democracy Watch about the complaints
• Commissioner Shepherd has misled the media, and the public, about loopholes in the Lobbying Act, and;
• Commissioner Shepherd has issued a legally incorrect, and incomplete, guideline on Rule 8 of the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct.