Information & Ethics committee  I am not really sure that would be a good addition, but the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct is not an act. It is part of the system, but it is drafted by the commissioner and it is....

Information & Ethics committee  If I could comment, my recollection is that that was in relation to the five-year prohibition on lobbying. Someone who is subject to the five-year prohibition may in fact work for a corporation as an in-house lobbyist provided their lobbying activities do not reach that significant part of duties threshold, which we have called 20%.

Information & Ethics committee  There is a part in the Criminal Code that deals with fraud on the government. There's a provision regarding undue influence, or influence peddling, as it's commonly known. The scenario you sketched out might be a criminal offence, as opposed to an offence under the Lobbying Act or other legislation.

Information & Ethics committee  I'll say a few words about that. When our office was looking at the Lobbying Act and preparing this paper to make some recommendations, we looked at provisions in relation to administrative monetary penalties and what they were doing in other jurisdictions. We looked at some of the federal legislation for what we considered to be our counterparts—the other agents or officers of Parliament.

Information & Ethics committee  In addition, part of this issue really boils down to a very simple difference. The commissioner's duty to refer a matter to the RCMP arises when she has reasonable grounds to believe that there may have been an offence under the Lobbying Act or any other law. Then the RCMP will conduct their investigation and consult with their legal counsel.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I just want to mention that it may take the form of an opinion of the Commissioner.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, to subpoena them as witnesses.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would like to add: the Act was amended in 2008. The section of the Act dealing with investigations by the Commissioner was changed at the same time. It now provides that the Commissioner could conduct an investigation if she believed it was necessary to ensure compliance with the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct and the Act.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Setting aside the code of conduct, there is a question, I guess, about whether something is a registrable activity. Merely receiving a document would not necessarily be a registrable activity because there is no communication by the lobbyist. That's if we look at the act, right?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That doesn't seem very hypothetical.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Would you like to address that, Commissioner?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  A designated--

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Right.

Information & Ethics committee  Provincial, municipal, aboriginal band council are not required to register because that's communication between levels of government and not registrable lobbying activity.