Nancy Belanger, Commissioner of Lobbying
Photo Credit: Government of Canada
Esprit de Corps Magazine March 2023 // Volume 30 Issue 2
Let's Talk About Women in the Military – Column 48
by Military Woman
Question:
Any thoughts about defence related lobbying?
Answer:
Lots of thoughts!
Most people are aware that federal officials are allowed to be lobbied in hopes of influencing government’s decisions on major military equipment procurements, such as the buying of new fighter jets, tanks, and ships. Fewer people may be aware of the role of lobbying in other areas, such as defence-related research and supports for military members and Veterans.
Before we go further – let’s review what federal lobbying is.
Lobbying is when an individual (a consultant lobbyist paid by a client) or an employee (an in-house lobbyist working for a corporation or organization) articulates their specific interests to public office holders on a regulated matter, including developing or amending public policy; securing grants or other financial benefits; or setting up meetings between public office holders and clients.
Paid includes being offered money or anything else of perceived value including future contracts, promises or agreements in kind.
Organization includes any professional or voluntary association, not-for-profit, charity, coalition, special interest, or stakeholder group.
Public office holder includes any member of the CAF, RCMP, public service, House of Commons, or Senate, including their staff. Extra scrutiny is required when dealing with designated public officer holders, which for the CAF includes the CDS, VCDS, Judge Advocate General, and Commanders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Military Personnel.
To state it plainly – if you are someone outside of federal government who is communicating for payment (anything of value) in order to try and change the present state of play within government – you may want to check and see if you fall under federal lobbyist legislation.
Federal legislation first came into force with the Lobbyists Registration Act (1989). Ethical conduct standards were then set by the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct (1996). The Registration Act was then amended and renamed the Lobbying Act in 2006.
The new Act addressed the call for more accountability around federal lobbying by creating an Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. The present Commissioner, Ms. Nancy Belanger, has the mandate and powers to ensure federal lobbyist compliance with the latest versions of the Act (2012) and Code (2015).
On February 3, 2023, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) met to discuss Ms. Belanger’s 2022 report titled Renewing the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct – Updated standards for ethical and transparent lobbying. This (and all other) parliamentary committee meetings are available to watch, or read the transcripts of, via the OurCommons website.
The proposed Code updates will help minimize public officer holders being placed in real or perceived conflicts of interests due to any “sense of obligation” to their lobbyist. Unfortunately, the unique ways “senses of obligation” could arise between serving military members (public office holders) and retired military members (potential lobbyists) has not yet been fully captured within the proposed updates.
This gap in defence-specific ethical guidance is further compounded by a general lack of awareness about lobbying within the multi-million, if not billion, dollar ecosystem now involved with military and Veteran health and wellbeing. The influence of lobbying remains largely unacknowledged even as increasing amounts of federal money flow into health care professional contracted services, vocational rehabilitation services, mental health supports including in-patient trauma and addiction care programs, and research into post-traumatic stress, military sexual trauma, cannabis and psychedelics.
Some final thoughts about defence-related lobbying:
If you have not already done so, check out LobbyCanada.gc.ca – the website of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada to learn more about these topics.
If you are a defence public office holder or involved in defence advocacy related work, consider asking the Commissioner for targeted education specific to your situation.
Although the latest recommended Code revisions are a step forward, they do not provide full guidance for the defence community, and they do not diminish a need for an update review of the Lobbying Act itself.
We can still do better.
