Today in the legislature the government introduced Bill 8: Lobbyists Registration Amendment Act. The goal of this act is to begin the process of tightening up rules regarding lobbyist registration. Below is the statement that we released in association with this Bill. I will provide a more extensive analysis with potential improvements when this bill proceeds to second reading.

Media Statement

Statement on government’s lobbying reform bill
For immediate release
October 2, 2017

VICTORIA, B.C. – The B.C. NDP minority government today introduced lobbying reform, the first B.C. Green initiative to be introduced as legislation following the May 9 election. The B.C. Greens were the only party to campaign to reform B.C.’s lobbying laws and the reforms were a key policy priority the B.C. Greens negotiated into their Confidence and Supply Agreement with the B.C. NDP.

“This change represents one piece of a larger number of reforms that the B.C. Greens will push for to clean up B.C. politics,” said Adam Olsen, the B.C. Green caucus spokesperson for trust in government.

“Government should represent the interests of the people, not special interests. Due to our province’s lax campaign finance laws, limited regulations on the lobbying industry and other systemic issues, this has not always been the case.

“The two-year prohibition ensures that decisions-makers cannot turn around and profit from decisions they took part in making. In the days and weeks ahead we will be reviewing it in detail to ensure that it adequately protects the interests of British Columbians from the undue influence of special interests and will be looking for ways to bring in amendments to further strengthen the way we regulate lobbying in B.C.

“The most important thing that this minority government can do is earn the trust of British Columbians. The B.C. Green caucus will continue to bring concrete, actionable proposals to the table to strengthen British Columbians’ trust in their government.”

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Media contact
Jillian Oliver, Press Secretary
+1 778-650-0597 | jillian.oliver@leg.bc.ca