Tightening Lobbying and Gift Rules

Summary#

This bill changes Saskatchewan’s Lobbyists Act to increase what lobbyists must report and to restrict gifts to public officials. It broadens what counts as lobbying, removes a common exemption, adds monthly reporting, and requires disclosure of political donations tied to lobbying. The stated goal is more transparency about who is trying to influence government and on what topics.

• Defines “communication” broadly so that emails, phone calls, virtual or in‑person meetings, and informal contacts can count as lobbying.
• Changes “non‑profit organization” to mean a non‑profit with more than 5 employees.
• Likely removes the current 30‑hour‑per‑year exemption for in‑house lobbying by striking that threshold from the Act, meaning more organizations would need to register. The bill does not explain the full original wording.
• Requires registered lobbyists who lobbied in a given month to file a monthly activity log within 15 days, naming the public official(s) contacted, who was present, the date, subject, related bills or decisions, and how contact was made.
• Requires disclosure of all political contributions made by the lobbyist’s organization or client since the start of the last provincial election period, and adds any such contributions made during each month to the monthly log.
• Bans public office holders from accepting gifts (as defined by The Members’ Conflict of Interest Act). MLAs may accept gifts only if allowed under that Act.
• Removes several existing registration disclosure items in the Act; the bill does not specify here what those items were.

What it means for you#

• Workers at organizations that lobby (in‑house lobbyists)

  • You would likely need to register even if your combined lobbying time is under 30 hours per year, because the bill strikes that threshold from the Act.
  • You must keep detailed, timely records and file a monthly activity log within 15 days after month‑end for any month you lobbied.
  • You must track and report any political donations made by your organization since the last election writ, and note donations made during each month in your log.
  • More of your contacts may count as lobbying because “communication” is defined broadly.

• Consultant lobbyists

  • You must file monthly activity logs when you lobby, with the same level of detail.
  • You must disclose political donations made by your client since the last election writ, and any made during each month covered by a log.

• Non‑profit organizations

  • The Act now treats a “non‑profit organization” as one with more than 5 employees. This could change how the Act applies to your group. The bill does not explain all the effects of this change.

• Public office holders (MLAs, ministers, political staff, senior public servants, and others covered by the Act)

  • You would be named in monthly lobbying logs that identify who met or communicated with you and about what.
  • You may not accept gifts as defined in The Members’ Conflict of Interest Act. MLAs may accept gifts only if that Act allows it. Others covered by “public office holder” would be banned from accepting such gifts.

• General public

  • You could see more frequent and detailed public reporting of lobbying activities and related political donations.

• Political parties, candidates, and constituency associations

  • Your existing rules under The Election Act do not change here, but donations made to you by organizations or lobbying clients must be reported by those lobbyists in their filings.

• Timing

  • The bill takes effect on Royal Assent.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

• Government may face higher administrative and technology costs to receive, publish, and review monthly logs.
• Lobbyists and organizations may face new compliance costs to track activities, participants, and political donations and to file monthly reports.
• Training and system updates may be required for the Lobbyist Registrar and for registrants.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to make lobbying more open by requiring detailed, near‑real‑time (monthly) disclosure of meetings, participants, and subjects.
• Removing the hours‑based exemption could close a loophole so that even low‑volume lobbying is registered and visible to the public.
• Defining “communication” broadly could prevent avoidance of rules through informal or indirect contact.
• Requiring disclosure of political contributions by the organization or client could help the public see links between donations and lobbying efforts.
• Banning gifts to public office holders (with MLAs limited to what is allowed under their ethics law) could reduce real or perceived influence from gifts.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is administrative burden: monthly filings within 15 days, detailed participant lists, and tracking donations may be costly, especially for small organizations.
• Naming all individuals present at lobbying activities may raise privacy or participation concerns for people who are not lobbyists or officials.
• The bill strikes several existing disclosure items from registration forms and removes a subsection elsewhere in the Act; without detail, it is unclear whether important information will be lost or why those items were removed.
• Changing the definition of “non‑profit organization” to those with more than 5 employees may create uncertainty about how rules apply to very small non‑profits; the bill does not clearly explain the practical effect.
• Immediate effect on Assent may give little time for lobbyists and the Registrar to update systems and processes.
• It is unclear how the new donation‑disclosure rules will interact with existing reporting under The Election Act, which could create duplication or confusion.