NSNDP

September 14th, 2018

NDP introduces changes to Lobbyist Registry legislation

HALIFAX - The NDP Caucus will introduce legislation today to strengthen rules around lobbying and provide the Registrar with the power to conduct investigations when the rules are broken.

“When the Premier and a former Prime Minister openly flaunt the rules around lobbying, it’s clear that the existing law isn’t strong enough to protect the public interest,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill. “People should be able to have confidence that when the rules are broken there will be consequences.”

Earlier this year, the public saw how weak the Nova Scotia legislation is when a complaint was made about former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s lobbying of Premier Stephen McNeil about the development of the Port of Sydney. The Registrar of the Lobbyist Registry sent a letter to Mr. Chrétien asking about the meeting, which the former Prime Minister chose to ignore. The Registrar’s office had no enforcement mechanism to investigate or compel a response.

“The existing Lobbyist Registry is completely toothless,” said John McCracken, who filed the initial complaint about Mr. Chrétien’s lobbying of the Premier. “Creating an enforcement mechanism means that when members of the public file complaints, they can expect to actually get a response.”

The legislation would also require a comprehensive review of the Lobbyist Registration Act by a committee of the House of Assembly to further update lobbying rules.

-30-

A PDF of the draft legislation can be found here.