Summary#
Bill 44, An Act to Amend the Lobbyists’ Registration Act, is a first-reading bill that would amend New Brunswick’s 2014 Lobbyists’ Registration Act. It would replace the Act’s separate registration divisions with new registration and reporting rules, and add a code of conduct and investigation powers. Its apparent goal is to strengthen lobbyist accountability; that is a stated purpose, not a guaranteed result.
- Lobbyists could not lobby a public office holder unless registered for that lobbying. Consultant lobbyists would file an initial return within 15 days of agreeing to lobby for a client; in-house lobbyists, or an organization’s senior officer, would have two months after lobbying begins.
- Each month, the people who filed initial returns would generally report related communications, including the public office holder’s name, date and subject. If there is nothing new or to correct, no return is required that month, but after five months without returns an inactivity statement is required.
- The Commissioner would have to develop a lobbyist code of conduct, consult people or organizations the Commissioner considers appropriate, and submit the code to a Legislative Assembly committee. The code would be published in The Royal Gazette, and lobbyists would have to follow it.
- The Commissioner could investigate possible breaches, make findings of non-compliance, and—if considered in the public interest—publish information, bar a lobbyist for up to two years, or impose an administrative penalty set by regulation. These measures would not take effect until one year after the relevant section starts.
- A consultant lobbyist who stops being a consultant lobbyist would have to notify the Commissioner and could not work in specified parts of the provincial public service for six months after notifying the Commissioner.
- The bill would start on a date or dates set by proclamation. The supplied material is the first-reading text only; it does not establish whether any proposed amendments were later adopted.
What it means for you#
- Consultant lobbyists: You would need to register before lobbying, file the initial return within 15 days of undertaking work for a client, and make required monthly reports. The bill also sets out rules for ending or completing an undertaking.
- In-house lobbyists and organizations: In-house lobbyists would have two months after lobbying starts to file an initial return. For an organization, its senior officer would file the returns. Regulations could exclude individuals or classes from the in-house lobbyist definition.
- Lobbyists generally: You would have to comply with the code of conduct. After a finding of non-compliance, you would have an opportunity to be heard, could seek reconsideration within 15 days, and could apply for judicial review within 60 days.
- Consultant lobbyists leaving the role: The six-month public-service employment restriction would apply to employment in the parts of the provincial public service named by the bill.
- Public and taxpayers: The Commissioner would have to report annually to the Legislative Assembly. Investigation information would generally be confidential, subject to listed exceptions.
- General public: This is a proposed change to government oversight, not a new public service or a change to a tax or benefit.
Money#
No cost information is in the available material.
- The bill assigns new duties and investigation powers to the Commissioner but gives no staffing or operating-cost estimate.
- It allows administrative penalties, with their amount or calculation method to be set by regulation. Penalties collected would go to the Province’s Consolidated Fund.
- The bill does not state the cost of the code of conduct, reporting system, investigations, or enforcement.
What is unclear#
- The current parent Act was not supplied, so the exact current registration and reporting rules—and how the proposal changes them in practice—could not be verified.
- The bill does not define “lobbying” in the supplied text. The scope of the in-house lobbyist definition may also depend on future regulations.
- It does not set the administrative penalty amount; that would depend on regulations.
- The bill gives no details about the code’s content or how the committee would consider it. The code would be binding on lobbyists, but the Regulations Act would not apply to it.
- The bill does not set out how investigations would be carried out in detail, beyond the Commissioner’s powers and the opportunity to be heard. It also allows investigations after the usual two-year limit if the Commissioner considers that to be in the public interest.
- The exact start dates depend on proclamation. No later bill version or adopted amendment is supplied.
Case for#
- A possible argument for the bill is that regular reporting of lobbying communications would give the Commissioner more current information than initial registration alone.
- Requiring lobbyists to follow an ethical code could set common expectations for both consultant and in-house lobbyists.
- Investigation powers, penalties and possible lobbying bans could provide consequences for breaches, while the bill also provides hearing, reconsideration and judicial-review steps.
- Annual reporting to the Assembly could give legislators information about how the Commissioner uses these new powers.
Case against#
- One concern is that the bill leaves key details—including penalty amounts and the code’s content—to later decisions or regulations.
- The Commissioner would develop the binding code and investigate and decide whether there was non-compliance. The bill provides review routes, but gives limited detail about investigation procedures.
- The Commissioner could extend the investigation time limit when the Commissioner considers it in the public interest, which leaves room for judgment about older allegations.
- The six-month public-service employment restriction could affect consultant lobbyists who later seek provincial public-service work.
- The bill creates new reporting and enforcement duties without saying what they will cost or how much staff they will require.