ETHI to hear from lobbying commissioner as Lobbying Act review kicks off, says committee chair Brassard
The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Conservative MP John Brassard chairs the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on Nov. 19, 2025.
Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger will appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) on March 9 to kick off a study into the nine-year-overdue review of the Lobbying Act, said ETHI chair John Brassard.
“I’ve confirmed that she’s going to be there,” the Conservative MP told The Lobby Monitor before walking into ETHI’s Feb. 26 meeting in West Block. “The meeting notice hasn’t been posted at this point but March 9 is when we’re going to start that study.”
Brassard added that though the committee isn’t “proactively reaching out to” witnesses yet, people are already volunteering to testify.
“Part of the process is to ask members of the committee to supply witness names,” he said. “But I can tell you already, we have received quite a bit of interest outside of the scope of members asking for witnesses—people who volunteered [to appear] through email correspondence or contacting the clerk.”
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest in this study, and there should be too because we haven’t had a legislative review since 2012,” Brassard added.
The Lobbying Act came into force in 2008 and regulates the lobbying profession and those who practice it. It should be reviewed every five years but it wasn’t updated in 2017 or 2022.
On Sept. 17, 2025, the ETHI unanimously agreed to begin assessing the Lobbying Act’s effectiveness in ensuring transparency and ethical conduct in lobbying activities. Liberal vice-chair Linda Lapointe made the motion which passed unanimously.
Handout photo
Bélanger last appeared before ETHI on Oct. 6, 2025 when she said that she was pleased that a review of the act will be studied by the committee.
Also during that appearance, Brassard asked Bélanger to provide a list of witnesses that she suggests the committee invite to testify during the Lobbying Act review.
According to the document obtained by The Lobby Monitor, Bélanger recommends that ETHI hear from Jean-François Routhier, commissioner of lobbying of Quebec; Cathryn Motherwell, commissioner of integrity and registrar of lobbyists of Ontario; Michael Harvey, information and privacy commissioner and registrar of lobbyists of British Columbia; and Pauline Bertrand, policy analyst for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Bélanger also suggested that ETHI hear from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by invitation through Public Safety Canada.
At the time of publishing, no March 9 ETHI meeting appeared on the House committee meetings schedule.
