–by T. “Isaac” Meyer, Head of Strategic Planning and Communication
Today, I witnessed a de-vilification. It was intense, it was scary at times, and we held hands and talked quietly afterward to ensure we were ready to go out and face the real world again.
What happened? I attended a 1-day seminar on lobbying. Yes, lobbying the government. As part of my job at TRIUMF in communications, strategic planning, outreach, education, external relations, public affairs, community and media relations, and whatever else I do each day to support the noble cause of the laboratory, I went to this seminar put on by the provincial Registrar of Lobbyists and Simon Fraser University. What we learned is that “lobbying” is NOT a bad word. In fact, we learned that is could be made whole, perfect, and complete: de-vilified!
What is lobbying? Well, in simple terms, it is an undertaking to influence decisions made by government(s). The Magna Carta granted every citizen the right to petition the crowd with his or her ideas, needs, and opinions — the first “right to lobby” was instantiated nearly 800 years ago! Legend has it that the term “lobby” arose from the U.S. or the U.K. where people gathered around the politicians in the “lobbies” around the legislative chambers during breaks in session. “Lobbyist” was therefore someone trying to get the ear of a politician weighing choices before voting.
In the modern world, lobbying is a dirty word. We complain about the undue influence of special interests in Washington, D.C., or Ottawa or even Victoria. We associate lobbyists with people who just rotated out of government and are using their old rolodexes and networks to have an improper advantage in setting up meetings or having conversations with decision-makers. Worse, we see that many of these “lobbyists” are for hire! That is, they sell their ability to get access and their ability to influence to the highest bidder.
But what is really going on?
When the federal Minister of State for Science & Technology visits TRIUMF and we show him what we’re doing with isotopes for science and medicine, are we lobbying him? Or when we are in Ottawa for a physics conference and we stop by to brief the clerks at the Ministry of Finance on our annual financial statements, are we lobbying them?
Turns out that most jurisdictions in North America have tried to do two things: (1) register lobbying activities, and (2) disclose these activities in the interests of transparency. What qualifies as lobbying? Well, in British Columbia, an organization is considered to be lobbying the provincial government and must publicly register when the following criteria are all met: (a) there is an intent to communicate with government about an issue in front of it in an effort to support or influence an outcome (even if you’re requesting to maintain the status quo), (b) the people doing the communication are being paid (i.e., employees of the organization), (c) the effort expended by the entire organization for that communication exceeds 100 hours per year including prep time and travel time and meeting time and summed across all the people working on the communication, and (d) the person/people you’re meeting with government are at a certain level of decision/hierarchy.
It sounds complicated, but you can imagine what they’re trying to do: make sure that an average citizen’s letter doesn’t have to be tracked and reported but DO make sure that when larger groups meet on a regular basis with government representatives, there is some record of it. We don’t want our democracies being run with secret advice in secret meetings!
And sometimes the lobbying registering and reporting rules are complicated. They are different for each part of each government, so one type of meeting might be considered lobbying the provincial government but not the federal government. Or a meeting with the Executive Branch might be lobbying where it wouldn’t be for the Legislative Branch. For instance, we learned that staff of the Executive Branch cannot accept anything more than a cup of coffee at a function; staff of the U.S. Congress can have food “as long as it is not related to a meal.” Now what does that mean?!
So what happens when you “register” as a lobbyist? It means that you then have to keep track and “report” on the meetings and discussions you have with the government on the topics you’re interested in. For instance, a meeting to discuss the federal budget for science would qualify as well as a meeting to learn about the selection criteria for an upcoming research program. Check out what happens when you register at the Government of Canada’s Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying website.
One of the themes of the workshop was how the system could be revised to allow more participation by interests that don’t have millions of dollars. One suggestion was that responsibility for lobbyist registration and monitoring should also rest with public servants: when THEY meet with with YOU, they should record/report it and at the same time consider if they need to request a parallel meeting with another stakeholder group that also has a view on the issue up for discussion.
So, my meetings with the federal government do count; now, if the government person initiates the meeting, then it doesn’t. But when we invite them, which we do ona regular basis, it does! And TRIUMF certainly spends more than 100 hours per year collectively preparing for and meeting with government. So that means we are lobbying…or rather, we are exercising our right to petition “the crown” to encourage them to favourable support the future of public funding for Canadian science and technology.
So lobbying is not dirty, its not evil. You could even argue that lobbying is critical to a free, democratic society. Its just that when conflicts of interest arise or improper advantages are used or sold that society runs into trouble. So, what do you think? What is lobbying for you? When does it cross the line? Is it an intrinsic part of democracy or is it the path to corruption?
Go ahead—write back and lobby ME.
Tags: communications, corruption, ethics, government relations, lobbying, outreach, physics, politics
