The Ontario government recently announced proposed changes to the laws regarding public sector lobbying. These reforms would restrict the lobbying activity of publicly funded institutions and increase the government's oversight of certain public sector organizations.
On October 7, 2010, the Ontario government introduced Bill 119, the Lobbyist Registration Amendment Act (Public Entities), 2010. Bill 119 amends the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998 to prohibit consultant lobbyists from lobbying on behalf of designated public entities. Included in the definition of "public entities" are children's aid societies, school boards, hospitals, universities and Crown entities. Bill 119 also changes the name of the Lobbyist Registration Act, 1998 to the Lobbyists Registrations and Restrictions Act, 1998.
The government provided a more expansive framework for these reforms with the introduction, on October 20, 2010, of Bill 122, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010.
Bill 122 builds on the reforms of Bill 119 and prohibits certain broader public sector organizations and publicly funded entities from using public funds to pay for the services of consultant lobbyists. These lobbying rules apply to bodies such as hydro entities, hospitals, school boards, universities, children's aid societies and other publicly funded organizations that receive more than $10 million in government funding. The government maintains the authority to make regulations designating additional broader public sector organizations or excluding certain organizations from the application of the legislation. In-house lobbyists are not restricted by these proposed reforms, and the new legislation does not prevent public sector bodies from hiring lobbyists using funds from other, non-public sources. Transitional provisions under Bill 122 deem any existing lobbying agreements that would violate the new rules terminated within 30 days of an organization being subject to the legislation.
Bill 122 also increases government oversight of hospitals and local health integration networks (LHINs) regarding consultants and expenses. The government will have the authority to make expense claim directives as a way to enhance the controls on expenses. Hospitals and LHINs will be required to post executives' expense claim information on their websites. The government will also have the authority to make procurement directives, such as mandating competitive procurements and the adoption of codes of ethics. Hospitals and LHINs will also have to submit reports on their use of consultants, along with attestations about their organization's compliance with the new legislation; executives' pay may be reduced if they fail to comply.
Bill 122 would also bring hospitals under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, with retrospective application to January 1, 2007. Hospitals would have until January 1, 2012 to implement any processes and protocols needed to support the administration of the new provisions. Bill 122 would not change personal health information rules and would exempt records related to the operations of a hospital foundation, the administrative records of health professionals solely related to their personal practices, and charitable donations made to a hospital.
Bill 119 has received its first reading, and Bill 122 is currently in second reading debate. We will be watching closely to see how these pieces of legislation develop.
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