Canada’s lobbying commissioner says more than a dozen suspected violations of the federal Lobbying Act were investigated and referred to the RCMP without any charges being laid or the names of those involved being publicly disclosed.Blacklock's Reporter says Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger told the House of Commons ethics committee that 19 separate files had been referred to police during her tenure, but none resulted in public reports after investigators declined to proceed.“We review every matter,” Bélanger told MPs. “Many matters lead to files to the RCMP. It takes a lot of our time, it takes a lot of the RCMP’s time, and it’s returned to me and closed.”The commissioner’s testimony raised fresh questions about transparency and accountability surrounding federal lobbying enforcement in Ottawa, where roughly 7,000 lobbyists are registered.Only four people have ever been convicted or pleaded guilty under the Lobbying Act since it came into force 38 years ago.Conservative MP Michael Barrett pressed Bélanger on why Canadians were never informed about the alleged violations.“You have reason to believe when you refer a matter to the RCMP that the Act has been broken?” Barrett asked.“Yes,” Bélanger replied.Barrett then asked whether the public had access to reports on those investigations.“No,” said Bélanger.“Why not?” Barrett asked.“Because the way the Act is arranged right now, I can’t make findings of breaches,” she replied..Bélanger said once the RCMP and federal prosecutors decide not to pursue charges, her office lacks authority to formally conclude an offence occurred.“All I can do is say I had reason to believe,” she said, adding that years often pass before cases are returned to her office.Asked how many RCMP referrals had been publicly reported, Bélanger answered: “None.”She also acknowledged there were additional breaches uncovered by her office that never rose to the level of police referral, though she did not provide a number.Bélanger said some of the secret files involved corporations and organizations that allegedly lobbied without registering as required under federal law.Other cases involved former designated public office holders who were allegedly lobbying despite being subject to a five-year prohibition after leaving government.She declined to identify any of the individuals or organizations involved.The only four people formally penalized under the Act remain former Conservative aide Andrew Skaling, former Stephen Harper advisor Bruce Carson, former Liberal Party national director James Carroll and Montréal executive Hervé Pouts.Their fines ranged from $7,500 to $45,000.Bélanger suggested Parliament may need to consider changes to the legislation to allow greater public disclosure when investigations uncover evidence of wrongdoing that does not lead to criminal charges.“The only thing I could do possibly is a report to Parliament to say, ‘Here’s what I did, here’s what the police did,’” she said.
