Vol. 146, No. 10 — May 9, 2012

Registration

SOR/2012-88 April 27, 2012

LOBBYING ACT

Regulations Amending the Lobbyists Registration Regulations

P.C. 2012-541 April 26, 2012

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the President of the Treasury Board, pursuant to paragraph 12(b) (see footnote a) of the Lobbying Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Lobbyists Registration Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE LOBBYISTS REGISTRATION
REGULATIONS (MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAM)

AMENDMENTS

1. Subsection 4(2) of the Lobbyists Registration Regulations (see footnote 1) is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

  1. (c) on the date that it enters the registry of the Commissioner’s office, if the return is filed electronically.

2. (1) Subsection 11(3) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) A request made by the Commissioner is deemed to have been made

  1. (a) on the date that it is post marked, if the request is mailed;

  2. (b) on the date that it is delivered, if the request is delivered by hand;

  3. (c) on the date indicated by the receiving apparatus, if the request is sent by facsimile transmission; or

  4. (d) on the date of transmission, if the request is sent by electronic mail.

(2) Subsection 11(4) of the Regulations is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

  1. (c) on the date of transmission, if the clarification or correction to the return is sent by electronic mail.

3. Section B.2 of Form 2 of the schedule to the French version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “Titre du poste ou grade dans les Forces canadiennes ou la GRC” with “Titre du poste”.

COMING INTO FORCE

4. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

The amendments address issues raised by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (the Committee) in its review of the Lobbyists Registration Regulations (the Regulations). The specific objectives of these amendments are

  • To improve the clarity and consistency within the Regulations of rules to determine deadlines and their fulfillment in the area of reports required of individuals by the Commissioner of Lobbying (the Commissioner); and
  • To eliminate an inconsistency between the English and French versions of section B.2 of Form 2 in the schedule to the Regulations.

Description and rationale

Issues in three areas were raised by the Committee and all were addressed through these amendments.

First, when examining the issue of documents submitted to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying (the Office), the Committee determined that subsection 4(2) of the Regulations did not specify when reports submitted electronically to the Office were deemed to have been received, although they did provide this specification in the cases of reports submitted through conventional mail or by fax. Subsection 4(2) of the Regulations is amended by adding paragraph (c), which provides that reports filed electronically are deemed to have been received when they enter the Office’s registry. This amendment reflects the practice of the Office and is thus not expected to incur any impact or costs to the Office, to registering lobbyists, or to the public.

Second, when examining the issue of correction or clarification reports requested by the Commissioner, the Committee found that the Regulations were not clear as to when a request for correction or clarification was made and, as a result, the period in which a response must be made began. Subsection 11(3) of the Regulations is amended to specify when requests by the Office sent through the mail, by hand, by fax, and by electronic mail are deemed to be made. This amendment reflects the practice of the Office and is thus not expected to incur any impact or costs to the Office, to registered lobbyists, or to the public.

Third, the Committee identified a discrepancy between the English and French versions of an element of section B.2 of Form 2 annexed to the Regulations: because the English version reflected the requirements in subsection 7(3) of the Lobbying Act where the French version did not, the French version has been amended to read “Titre du poste”. This amendment is not expected to incur any impact or costs to the Office, to registering lobbyists, or to the public.

Contact

David Dollar
Director
Strategic Initiatives
Treasury Board Secretariat
140 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R5
Telephone: 613-946-9297

Footnote a
S.C. 2006, c. 9, par. 81(g)

Footnote b
R.S., c. 44 (4th Supp.); S.C. 2006, c. 9, s. 66

Footnote 1
SOR/2008-116