Transparency and Accessibility in Lobbying: Implementation of a New Registry, Carrefour Lobby Québec

In Quebec, lobbyists carrying out their activities with public office holders have been governed since 2002 by provisions of the Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act (Act). Essentially, the purpose of the Act is to ensure the transparency of lobbying activities in Quebec by imposing various obligations on lobbyists, who must disclose and publish in Quebec’s Lobbyists Registry several types of information regarding their endeavors.

Bill 6 was introduced in February 2019 in the National Assembly of Quebec. Its purpose is to amend the Act and to propose, among other things, that Lobbyisme Québec becomes responsible for Quebec’s Lobbyists Registry (which was previously the responsibility of the Québec Commissioner of Lobbying). Following the passage of Bill 6 on June 6, 2019, and its subsequent assent, Lobbyisme Québec undertook to implement and manage a new lobbying disclosure platform which would replace the Registry of Lobbyists of Quebec (former Registry). This new platform is only available in French (as was the case with the former Registry) for the time being.

The new platform, Carrefour Lobby Québec, went online on June 21, 2022. Since then, consultant lobbyists as well as in-house lobbyists for companies and organizations have been prompted by Lobbyisme Québec to create their personal account (Espace professionnel) and corporate or organizational account (Espace collectif). The Carrefour Lobby Québec is set to be officially online as of October 13, 2022; the former Registry is also set to shut down on this date.

Here is an overview of the reasons behind these changes, the features of the new platform and the impacts these changes may have.

FORMER REGISTRY

In 2002, the administration of the former Registry was handed over to Quebec’s Ministry of Justice in order to ensure the expedient implementation of a registry.

At the time, the Quebec Commissioner of Lobbying was tasked with the application of the Act and the Lobbyists Code of Conduct, whereas the Ministry of Justice was in charge of managing the former Registry.

It became crucial to modernize the former Registry, as its technological platform had practically not been updated since 2002. In fact, certain dissatisfied users of the former Registry were of the view that it failed to provide adequate information to citizens and public office holders on lobbying activities in Quebec.

CHANGES

Even before the passage of Bill 6, in a brief submitted by Lobbyisme Québec during the study of the Bill in committee, the organization stated the objectives it wanted to accomplish with the new registry. These included maintaining compliance with the governance framework under the Act and fostering transparency by enhancing user experience as well as registration, disclosure and lobbying monitoring procedures.

Not long after the passage of Bill 6, Lobbyisme Québec published another report entitled Simplicité, Clarté, Pertinence, Efficacité – Réforme de l’encadrement du lobbyisme (see our Blakes Bulletin on this matter), where it stated that simplicity, clarity, relevance and efficiency were the key points driving the implementation of the new platform replacing the former Registry.

More specifically, the new platform allows lobbyists to register in a user-friendly way, consult all their activities in one single location (through a dashboard), get help for registration and access a collaborative space.

In other words, thanks to the newly created Espace professionnel and Espace collectif, lobbyists can now disclose mandates in a blink of an eye without having to wait for Lobbyisme Québec to review them. Through the new platform, lobbyists can also cooperate with others to write mandates before publication, as well as publish mandates on Carrefour Lobby Québec’s website directly from their cell phones or computers.

Members of the public can also benefit from the new features, as the platform allows them to track in real time new lobbying activities, perform searches more easily and customize their browsing experience.

The passage of Bill 6 in the National Assembly of Quebec in 2019, and the resulting replacement of the former Registry, is a significant advancement in modernizing the existing regime which had been in place since 2002.

PREDICTABLE IMPACTS

With respect to immediate and practical impacts of the new platform, it should be noted that:

• As of October 13, 2022, declarations and mandates published since the implementation of the former Registry will be transferred over to the new platform and will be available there for consultation;

• All mandates beginning on or after October 13, 2022, are to be published in the new registry and meet established requirements;

• From October 13, 2022, to December 12, 2022 (the "Validation Period"), companies, organizations and lobbyists will be required to ensure that the information contained in their declarations and mandates, which will have been transferred to the new platform, is accurate, complete and up-to-date; and

• In certain specific cases, namely where the deadline for declared lobbying activities falls beyond December 12, 2022, certain mandates that had been published in the former Registry will have to be republished on the new platform.

Failure to republish mandates on the new platform and/or to validate the information that was transferred there may result in penalties, the magnitude of which remains to be determined.

Companies, organizations and lobbyists should also take advantage of the Validation Period to create their accounts (Espace professionnel and Espace collectif) and familiarize themselves with the features of the new platform.

Thanks to the new features provided, including the new online registration notification service and new research tool, lobbyists can expect that the public and the media will be able to review registry information quicker and more in-depth. In fact, two of the primary objectives of Lobbyisme Québec regarding this new registry are to promote transparency and access to information. This could therefore lead to more information or interview requests from both the media and the public. Although it is hard to assess the real impact that the implementation of this new platform will have, it is essential to have internal mechanisms and detailed procedures in place in order to respond adequately to these types of requests.

For further information, please contact:

Patrick Lapierre         +1-514-982-4105
Simon Seida               +1-514-982-4103
Yu Li                            +44-20-7429-3556

or any other member of our Public Sector Crisis & Compliance group.