The Canadian Commissioner of Lobbying’s job is to ensure lobbyists adhere to a code of ethics—particularly regarding favours they may provide to officials in hopes of influencing policy-making.
Commissioner Nancy Bélanger announced in November 2022 she would change the Lobbyist Code of Conduct to make it clearer, and thus more enforceable. Opposition to the changes sprang up, however, leading to House Ethics Committee meetings on the matter, including one on Feb. 14.
Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher is set to testify on behalf of 27 citizen groups. He told The Epoch Times ahead of the committee meeting, “She is gutting these rules. She’s trying to say, ‘I’m just clarifying them.’ No, you’re not. You’re gutting them.”…