Proposed Changes To Ontario's Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998

INTRODUCTION

On March 24, 2014, the Minister of Government Services John Milloy introduced for first reading Bill 179 "An Act to promote public sector accountability and transparency by enacting the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 and amending various Acts, 2014". ("bill 179") Schedule 7 of bill 179 proposes various amendments to the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998. If passed, these changes would represent the first substantial changes to that Act since it was first enacted in 1998. In essence, the proposed amendments outlined below will make the Ontario Lobbyists Registration Act more consistent with the federal lobbying legislation as well as various lobbying disclosure statutes in the provinces, specifically, British Columbia and Alberta. This bulletin provides a summary of the key provisions proposed that will be of interest to BLG's government relations clients.