Related pages: [ About us ] [ Regulating lobbyists' conduct ]
[ Meet the Lobbyist Registrar ]
A short history of the Registry
City Council considered establishing a lobbyist registry as early as 1998, following the creation of the amalgamated City of Toronto.
In 2003, Council asked the Province of Ontario for special legislation to permit the City to establish a lobbyist registry within the office of an integrity commissioner. The application for this special legislation was put on hold in 2004 with the creation of a joint task force to review the City of Toronto Act, 1997.
In her 2005 report, Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry, the Honourable Madam Justice Denise E. Bellamy, Commissioner, wrote:
“The City should treat lobbying as a potentially helpful practice that should be carefully controlled.”
Her inquiry heightened awareness of the prevalence of lobbying and she recommended that a lobbyist registry be established by the City of Toronto.
Justice Bellamy’s recommendations were considered in the development of the provisions in the City of Toronto Act, 2006 that require the City to establish a lobbyist registry and permit the City to appoint a lobbyist registrar.
In 2007, City Council adopted the Lobbying By-law, establishing the first municipal lobbyist registry in Canada, and appointed Marilyn Abraham as its first Lobbyist Registrar.
The online Registry went live February 2008.
Following Marilyn Abraham’s resignation, Council appointed Linda Gehrke Lobbyist Registrar in June 2008.
Here’s a link to the Lobbyist Registrar’s annual reports to City Council.
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