LETTER: Lobbyist registry ensures accountability, transparency

 re: Is registration the right answer? (Editorial, April 10)

After reading your editorial, I reflected back 10 years ago when the present voluntary lobbyist registry got started in the clerk’s office at my urging.
Being a lobbyist at that time, I had work to do for a client and wanted to ensure transparency and accountability. I had meetings with staff that were productive, but in the end my client was not successful.
Over the years, this registry has been revised and updated. The capture question is clear and the forms easy to fill out.
If the registry is made mandatory and funded, the clerks should be allowed to continue administering the lobbyist registry and if any problems arise, they could be forwarded to the city’s integrity commissioner for adjudication.
After 10 long years, I’m still on top of the list of registered lobbyists, which can be found at the city website.
It is interesting to note that two anti-fluoride lobbyists registered before they began lobbying for the removal of this chemical from our pristine water supply.
Despite what people might think, lobbyists are not evil and many are very skilled. Just browse through the provincial lobbyist registry and type in some local names — bingo, you hit pay dirt.

Mark-Alan Whittle
Hamilton Mountain

Registry better late than never

Public comments sought before decision on lobbyist registry (thespec.com, April 9)

Back in 2004, a client came to me asking that I set up meetings with city staff in order to put forth an idea for property the client owned near Flamboro Downs.

After consulting with staff of the federal and provincial lobbyists registrars, they suggested I approach the city clerk's office and suggest they start a voluntary lobbyists registry. The clerk's office staff made it happen and the registry became active in 2004.

I was the first lobbyist on the list, and 10 years later, I'm still listed at the top. Over the years, the clerk's department has refined and improved the present voluntary lobbyist registry, and I hope they will continue to do so once this registry becomes mandatory.

Any violations could be forwarded to the integrity commissioner for adjudication. The history of the registry has been long and tortured once the accountability and transparency subcommittee took ownership of the policy. I tried numerous times to help this committee move things along, but I was ignored. I was never invited to speak, or to suggest ways to capture lobbyists to keep the system open and transparent. I'm happy to hear the public will be consulted, and a decision made by July of this year. Better late than never.

Mark-Alan Whittle, Hamilton

Lobby registry will show special interest influence

re: City lobbyist registry

Way back in 2004, I was hired by a client to lobby Hamilton councillors respecting a business proposition. My client wanted to open a driving range for golfers on his property not far from Flamboro Downs. Before I got started I wanted to ensure transparency, so I consulted the provincial and federal lobbyist registry to inquire whether I should sign up as a lobbyist with their registries as Hamilton did not have one at the time. I was advised that I should approach city hall and try to get a lobbyist registry started.
Soon after, a voluntary registry was born, and I was the first recorded lobbyist. Fast forward to today, there are three of us on the list.
The registry should be mandatory. The city’s integrity commissioner could easily take over the management of the registry, if council wanted him to.
Once it is mandatory for lobbyists to register with the city, there will be a few red faces on council, as there are many lobbyists currently working under the radar. One can only hope that Lloyd Ferguson, the chair of the sub-committee in charge of rolling out the mandatory registry, gets his act together, starting with the definition of a lobbyist. A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby. I’m just hoping to live long enough to see the registry I helped create become mandatory, instead of the voluntary one that is not very effective at capturing lobbyists.

Mark-Alan Whittle
Hamilton Mountain