The co-founder of Democracy Watch says the House of Commons ethics committee should think twice before raising the amounts of freebies MPs can get from lobbyists..For weeks, Duff Conacher stridently opposed an update to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct proposed by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Belanger. As the Western Standard reported March 5, Conacher believes they will leave MPs more prone to undue influence from lobbyists..Now Belanger is considering backtracking on something Conacher believes she had right. Belanger proposed a $40 limit on gifts or hospitality a lobbyist could offer a Member of Parliament on any one occasion, and an $80 limit on the year for each category, leading to an overall limit of $160.. Duff Conacher .In a March 3 letter to MP John Brassard, chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, Belanger said some lobbyists complained the limit was too low, leading her to contemplate looser rules..“I am considering increasing the annual limit for hospitality from $80 to $100 to provide lobbyists with greater flexibility to offer reasonable receptions and still allow them to offer hospitality on a smaller scale to public office holders. In raising this potential change, I would note that increasing the annual limit to $100 would align the updated rule on hospitality with the annual limit on gift-giving set out in British Columbia’s Lobbyists Transparency Act and Lobbyists Transparency Regulation,” Belanger wrote..“Please note that, even if I were to adopt this change, I would continue to maintain a low-value limit of $40 for each instance of permitted hospitality.”.In a March 21 letter to the committee, Conacher argued against raising the limits..“The ethics commissioner currently prohibits MPs from receiving gifts or hospitality from any lobbyist that is worth more than those amounts because even small gifts have been proven by psychological studies to influence decisions. Also in fact, in Ottawa and across Canada (except in some remote areas), catered receptions and meal events cost only $17-$40 per person on average, and coffee meetings only $10,” Conacher wrote..“As well, MP salaries are in the top 5% in Canada, and they are given expense accounts to cover the cost of almost all their hospitality expenses, so they can simply pay themselves to go to receptions and other events held by lobbyists.”.Conacher referenced a summary made by Democracy Watch that outlined clinical studies that showed even small donations influenced people..“Clinical studies worldwide in many countries and cultures have all shown that the most effective way to influence someone’s decisions is to give them a gift or do them a favour — even small gifts and favours have influence, and larger gifts and favours have more influence,” the summary stated..“The gift or favour creates an subconscious feeling in the person receiving it to be biased in favour of the person or entity that gave the gift or favour, to feel like they should do something for the person or entity in return. The technical term for this favour-trading is called ‘reciprocation’.”.Conacher said he's far more concerned with proposed changes that would allow people to lobby the government only a year or two after helping them get elected instead of four years as it is today..“The gift/hospitality issue is far from the most important issue with the proposed changes,” Conacher told the Western Standard by email..“If giving more than $80-100 in gifts/hospitality creates a conflict of interest, so does the campaigning and fundraising.”.The ethics committee held its third meeting in secret March 22 to decide what position it is going to take on Belanger’s proposed changes. Last week, a Globe and Mail editorial called for the commissioner’s proposals to be rejected.
The co-founder of Democracy Watch says the House of Commons ethics committee should think twice before raising the amounts of freebies MPs can get from lobbyists..For weeks, Duff Conacher stridently opposed an update to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct proposed by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Belanger. As the Western Standard reported March 5, Conacher believes they will leave MPs more prone to undue influence from lobbyists..Now Belanger is considering backtracking on something Conacher believes she had right. Belanger proposed a $40 limit on gifts or hospitality a lobbyist could offer a Member of Parliament on any one occasion, and an $80 limit on the year for each category, leading to an overall limit of $160.. Duff Conacher .In a March 3 letter to MP John Brassard, chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, Belanger said some lobbyists complained the limit was too low, leading her to contemplate looser rules..“I am considering increasing the annual limit for hospitality from $80 to $100 to provide lobbyists with greater flexibility to offer reasonable receptions and still allow them to offer hospitality on a smaller scale to public office holders. In raising this potential change, I would note that increasing the annual limit to $100 would align the updated rule on hospitality with the annual limit on gift-giving set out in British Columbia’s Lobbyists Transparency Act and Lobbyists Transparency Regulation,” Belanger wrote..“Please note that, even if I were to adopt this change, I would continue to maintain a low-value limit of $40 for each instance of permitted hospitality.”.In a March 21 letter to the committee, Conacher argued against raising the limits..“The ethics commissioner currently prohibits MPs from receiving gifts or hospitality from any lobbyist that is worth more than those amounts because even small gifts have been proven by psychological studies to influence decisions. Also in fact, in Ottawa and across Canada (except in some remote areas), catered receptions and meal events cost only $17-$40 per person on average, and coffee meetings only $10,” Conacher wrote..“As well, MP salaries are in the top 5% in Canada, and they are given expense accounts to cover the cost of almost all their hospitality expenses, so they can simply pay themselves to go to receptions and other events held by lobbyists.”.Conacher referenced a summary made by Democracy Watch that outlined clinical studies that showed even small donations influenced people..“Clinical studies worldwide in many countries and cultures have all shown that the most effective way to influence someone’s decisions is to give them a gift or do them a favour — even small gifts and favours have influence, and larger gifts and favours have more influence,” the summary stated..“The gift or favour creates an subconscious feeling in the person receiving it to be biased in favour of the person or entity that gave the gift or favour, to feel like they should do something for the person or entity in return. The technical term for this favour-trading is called ‘reciprocation’.”.Conacher said he's far more concerned with proposed changes that would allow people to lobby the government only a year or two after helping them get elected instead of four years as it is today..“The gift/hospitality issue is far from the most important issue with the proposed changes,” Conacher told the Western Standard by email..“If giving more than $80-100 in gifts/hospitality creates a conflict of interest, so does the campaigning and fundraising.”.The ethics committee held its third meeting in secret March 22 to decide what position it is going to take on Belanger’s proposed changes. Last week, a Globe and Mail editorial called for the commissioner’s proposals to be rejected.
