BILL 53

 

Lobbyists Registration Act

 

WHEREAS free and open access to government is an important matter of public interest;

 

AND WHEREAS lobbying public office holders is a legitimate activity;

 

AND WHEREAS it is desirable that public office holders and the public be able to know who is engaged in lobbying activities;

 

AND WHEREAS a system for the registration of paid lobbyists should not impede free and open access to government;

 

NOW THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

 

INTERPRETATION

1                   The following definitions apply in this Act.

 

"lobbyist" means to communicate with a public office holder in an attempt to influence

 

(a)           the development of any legislative proposal by the Government of New Brunswick or by a member of the Legislative Assembly,

 

(b)           the introduction of any bill or resolution in the Legislative Assembly or the passage, defeat or amendment of any bill or resolution that is before the Legislative Assembly,

 

(c)           a decision by the Executive Council to transfer from the Crown for consideration all or part of, or any interest in or asset of, any business, enterprise or institution that provides goods or services to the Crown or to the public,

 

(d)           a decision by the Executive Council, a committee of the Executive Council or a minister of the Crown to have the private sector instead of the Crown provide goods or services to the Crown,

 

(e)           the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit by or on behalf of the Crown. (lobbyistes)

 

"organization" means

 

(a)           a business, trade, industry, professional or voluntary organization,

 

(b)           a trade union or labour organization,

 

(c)           a chamber of commerce or board of trade,

 

(d)           an association, a charitable organization, a coalition or an interest group,

 

(e)           a government, other than the Government of New Brunswick, and

 

(f)            a corporation without share capital incorporated to pursue, without financial gain to its members, objects of a national, provincial, territorial, patriotic, religious, philanthropic, charitable, educational, agricultural, scientific, artistic, social, professional, fraternal, sporting or athletic character or other similar objects. (organisation)

 

"prescribed" means prescribed by the regulations made under this Act. (prescrit)

 

"public office holder" means

 

(a)           a member of the Legislative Assembly and any person on his or her staff,

 

(b)           an officer, director or employee of any agency, board or commission of the Crown. (titulaire d'une charge publique)

 

"registrar" means the registrar appointed under section 8. (registraire)

 

"return" means the information required by the registrar under subsection 4(2). (déclaration)

 

Application

2                   This Act binds the Crown.

 

3(1)              This Act does not apply to any of the following persons when acting in their official capacity:

 

(a)           members of the Senate or House of Commons of Canada, the legislative assembly of another province, the council or legislative assembly of a territory, or persons on the staff of these members;

 

(b)           employees of the Government of Canada or of the government of another province or of a territory;

 

(c)           members of a council or other statutory body charged with the administration of the civil or municipal affairs of a municipality.

 

3(2)              This Act does not apply in respect of

 

(a)           any oral or written submission made in proceedings that are a matter of public record to a committee of the Legislative Assembly or to any body or person having jurisdiction or powers conferred by or under an Act,

 

(b)           any oral or written submission made to a public office holder by an individual on behalf of a person, partnership or organization, with respect to

 

(i)       the enforcement, interpretation or application of any Act or regulation made under any Act by that public office holder and with respect to that person, partnership or organization, or

 

(ii)      the implementation or administration of any policy, program, directive or guideline by that public office holder and with respect to that person, partnership or organization.

 

Registration of Lobbyists

4(1)              A lobbyist shall file a return with the registrar not later than 10 days after being requested in writing by the registrar to do so.

 

4(2)              A lobbyist shall set out in the return the following information:

 

(a)           the name and business address of the lobbyist and, if applicable, the name and business address of the firm where the lobbyist is engaged in business;

 

(b)           the name and business address of the client and the name and business address of any person, partnership or organization that, to the knowledge of the lobbyist, controls or directs the activities of the client and has a direct interest in the outcome of the lobbyist's activities on behalf of the client;

 

(c)           if the client is a corporation, the name and business address of each subsidiary of the corporation that, to the knowledge of the lobbyist, has a direct interest in the outcome of the lobbyist's activities on behalf of the client;

 

(d)           if the client is a corporation that is a subsidiary of any other corporation, the name and business address of that other corporation;

 

(e)           if the client is a coalition, the name and business address of each partnership, corporation or organization that is a member of the coalition;

 

(f)            if the client is funded, in whole or in part, by a government, the name of the government or government agency, as the case may be, and the amount of funding received by the client from that government or government agency;

 

(g)           such additional information as may be prescribed with respect to the identity of a person or entity described in this section.

 

4(3)              A lobbyist shall provide the registrar with any change to the information in his or her return and any information required to be provided under subsection (4), the knowledge of which the lobbyist acquired only after the return was filed, not later than 30 days after the change occurs or the knowledge is acquired.

 

4(4)              A lobbyist shall provide the registrar with confirmation of the information contained in his or her return within 2 months after the expiration of the first and each subsequent year from the date of filing the return.

 

4(5)              A lobbyist shall provide the registrar with any information that the registrar may request to clarify any information that the consultant lobbyist has provided to the registrar under this section not later than 30 days after the registrar makes the request.

 

4(6)              This section does not apply in respect of anything that an employee undertakes to do on the sole behalf of his or her employer or, if his or her employer is a corporation, in respect of anything that the employee, at the direction of the employer, undertakes to do on behalf of any subsidiary of the employer or any corporation of which the employer is a subsidiary.

 

Certification, Submission and Storage of Returns and Other Documents

5                   Every individual who submits a return or other document to the registrar under this Act shall certify that the information contained in it is true to the best of his or her knowledge and belief on the return or other document or, if it is submitted in electronic or other form in accordance with subsection 9(1), in the manner that is specified by the registrar.

 

6                   Returns to be filed with the registrar and information and other documents to be given to the registrar under this Act must be in a form approved by the registrar.

 

7                   Any return or other document that is received by the registrar may be entered or recorded by any information storage device, including any system of mechanical or electronic data processing, that is capable of reproducing the stored return or other document in intelligible form within a reasonable time.

 

Registrar and Registry

8                   The Ombudsman shall act as the registrar.

 

9(1)              The registrar shall establish and maintain a registry in which shall be kept all returns filed under this Act as revised by other documents submitted to the registrar under this Act.

 

9(2)              The registry shall be organized in the manner and kept in the form that the registrar may determine.

 

9(3)              The registry shall be available for public inspection in the manner and during the time that the registrar may determine.

 

10                 The registrar may verify the information contained in any return or other document submitted to the registrar under this Act.

 

Commencement

11                 This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by proclamation.