For immediate release
January 21, 2013
Lobbying in British Columbia: The Way Forward (pdf). Report on province-wide consultations and recommendations for reform, January 21, 2013
Vancouver, BC – Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC) today welcomed the BC Registrar of Lobbyists’ report on lobbying in British Columbia and the potential adoption of a provincial code of conduct for lobbyists.
“PAAC supports the Lobbyist Registration Act and the registry as they contribute to more open and transparent government and serve the public interest while helping maintain high standards and ethical conduct across British Columbia’s government relations profession,” said Adam Johnson, spokesperson for PAAC in BC. “We’ve been working with the Registrar’s office for over a year with respect to the Code of Conduct, as well as other issues like reporting requirements and cooling-off periods.”
“We now need to work with other stakeholders to determine if there is in fact a role for PAAC to assist in the development of an industry-lead code of conduct. We think BC’s lobbyists can be well represented by PAAC in these deliberations going forward,” said Johnson.
While PAAC needs to study the report in greater detail, the Association commends the Registrar’s Office for asking tough questions and engaging consultant and in-house lobbyists, academics, MLAs and others during the consultation process.
Johnson noted that many of the recommendations in the report regarding lobbyists’ conduct are already considered best practices by the majority of lobbyists in British Columbia.
John Capobianco, President of PAAC stated, “PAAC has always been committed to encouraging lobbyists to act in the most professional and ethical way possible. We were pleased to formally respond to the white paper on the need for a Code of Conduct issued by the BC Lobbyist Registrar. We see this as another step in encouraging an effective made-in-BC lobbyist registry.”
Contact:
Adam Johnson, PAAC spokesperson
(604) 678-2903
adam@earnscliffe.ca
