Lobbying Act -- is it valid? Perhaps not

One of the fundamental characteristics of a free country is the right of all citizens to ask the government to do something.

From the Magna Carta's Great Council onwards the Common Law has recognised the right of citizens peacefully to demand that the Crown act in a specific way.

This right to petition the Crown expanded over time and is now enshrined in the Canadian Constitution which provides that:

Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
...
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other means of communication.

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

Canadians are so used to the freedoms of speech and expression that we are shocked when we see those freedoms denied, as recently in Iran.

Despite this, in Canada we have a federal law that bars some of our most talented and engaged citizens from petitioning the government except under limited circumstances.

Under the Lobbying Act designated public office holders are prohibited from seeking to influence governmental policy except in limited non-remunerative situations for a period of five years. Designated public office holders include Ministers of State and their exempt staff senior bureaucrats such as Associate Deputy Ministers, Assistant Deputy Ministers and senior members of the Canadian Forces

So, for example, for five years the former Assistant Deputy Minister of the Environment cannot work for Greenpeace in trying to convince the government to be more pro-active on global warming. A senior member of the Canadian Forces cannot work for five years for a Conservative political action committee to try to encourage the government to increase security in the Arctic. Former Minister's staff are barred for five years from doing what they know best -- government policy work.

These designated public office holders are voices who have knowledge experience and wisdom; denying them the right to speak to the government means we lose something important.

The reason for the prohibition is, of course, to limit influence peddling -- to make sure that government is swayed by reason and not by ties of personality. That's an important goal and it may be enough to make the Lobbying Act constitutionally valid.

In Canada our Constitutional freedoms may be subject "to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society".

Perhaps the limit imposed by the Lobbying Act is valid -- but I suspect a far less restrictive limitation would work as well.
Certainly the answer is not obvious -- it may well be the Lobbying Act prohibition is unconstitutional. Regardless, it's only a matter of time before someone challenges it.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

416 225 2777