Readout — Fall 2024 LRCN conference

September 25, 2024
Ottawa, ON

From September 23-25, the Lobbyists Registrars and Commissioners Network (LRCN), a group of regulators responsible for enforcing lobbying laws, regulations and policies at the federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal level in Canada met in Ottawa.

Following a traditional welcome from Elder Claudette Commanda and a greeting from Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, the lobbying regulators shared updates from their respective jurisdictions and explored areas of common ground. The members of the network also had an opportunity to meet with the Speaker of the House of Commons, The Honourable Greg Fergus.

In keeping with their ongoing commitment to share best practices regarding the regulations that govern lobbying, the Commissioners and Registrars discussed the range of thresholds for in-house lobbying registration in their respective federal, provincial, and municipal regimes and considered the merits of registration by default.

Members of the LRCN were joined virtually by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Carissa Munro, Head of Policy and Partnerships, and Pauline Bertrand, Policy Analyst, Political Integrity who provided an overview of the OECD’s 2024 Recommendations on Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying and Influence.

Officials from Public Safety Canada also briefed the Commissioners and Registrars on the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act included in Bill C-70, along with its implications at the provincial, territorial and municipal levels.

The LRCN will meet again virtually in spring 2025. The next in-person meeting will be hosted by New Brunswick in fall 2025.