Thank you Jaffer: new regulations for lobbyists

Today, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day announced that lobbyists will face new transparency regulations. The new rules will see lobbyists register when they lobby any member of Parliament, including the opposition’s senior staff in the House of Commons and Senate offices. The Harper government had promised to make changes after former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer approached senior government MPs for federal funding for his private business—Jaffer denies the claim. Previously, lobbyists only needed to report that they lobbied with government ministers, ministers of state and senior bureaucrats. The National Post reported that Day said Canadians expect transparency and that "We want to make sure that message goes through loud and clear, and people understand that members of Parliament and senators are responsible to the citizens of the country, not to special-interest groups."

National Post