Lobbying Act reform risks undermining democratic engagement

Several proposals could impose significant costs on democratic participation without delivering corresponding public benefits.

Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger, left, appears before the House Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics Committee on March 9. The right approach to Lobbying Act reform is disclosure through clear, reasonable standards—not restrictions on legitimate engagement, write Jacques J.M. Shore and Suzanne Sabourin.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY JACQUES J.M. SHORE, SUZANNE SABOURIN

August 24, 2026

If Canadians were asked to identify the most significant legislative debates before Parliament this past spring, few would mention the House Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics' statutory review of the Lobbying Act. Yet this legislation is a corne...

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