2025 Annual Report of the Lobbyist Registrar, dated March 2, 2026, be received.

1:17:41this is the first time for you coming to give us a quick overview of our year. And so, we see you

1:17:48popping on the screen right now, I believe. Yeah. Am I here? You are here. We can't see you, but you

1:17:57sound great. Ah, I have to allow. How about that? Hey, perfect. Thank you. We see and hear you.

1:18:07Thank you, Suzanne, for joining us. And I'll turn it over to you to give us a little overview as well

1:18:13on your report. Go ahead. Thank you so much. Your worship, Mayor Guthrie, members of council,

1:18:19it's a pleasure to be with you here this evening. I believe this is my second year that I'm submitting

1:18:25a report. The first was not a full year, so this would be the first annual report of a calendar

1:18:32year as your registrar. And I submit this report before you for your consideration and receipt.

1:18:39As I said, this is the second annual report from this office that covers the period from January 1st,

1:18:462025 to December 31st, 2025. Your staff has submitted a year review of the lobbyist registry in the

1:18:54regime, and this has been received on the Consented Agenda this evening. I see and I'm pleased to have

1:19:00been consulted by your staff in the one year review. The report before you is short. However,

1:19:05I believe that this is a good news story and so far as there have not been any significant concerns

1:19:10or deviation from the bylaw rules. The intent of the bylaw is to enhance transparency and

1:19:17accountability by requiring individuals who lobby public office holders, members of council, and

1:19:22senior staff to register and file returns detailing their lobbying activities. And as you know,

1:19:28the bylaw came into effect in 2024, October, but you held off on actually implementing penalties

1:19:36until January 1st, 2025, so that individuals and businesses could come up to speed with the

1:19:43bylaw. Businesses with a financial interest may not be considered to be lobbying if the

1:19:48communication is part of the city's procurement process or the planning process or by invitation

1:19:55or relating to general charitable endeavors. As lobbyists register, if I receive a complaint

1:20:02following the completion of an investigation, if I determine that there has been a contravention of

1:20:07the bylaw, I have the authority to impose the penalties as outlined in section seven of your

1:20:12bylaw. The first defense, up to 30 days prohibition from lobbying. Second, up to 60 days prohibition.

1:20:19Third, 90 days prohibition from lobbying and if significant a permanent ban of lobbying with the

1:20:24city. And I may also impose additional measures such as mandatory education and training. So

1:20:30there's an escalation penalty system that's premised on education and not punishment. I continue to

1:20:37communicate that lobbying is a legitimate activity in a democratic government accountability regime,

1:20:44such as what you have here in Guelph. And often people ask, well, why did the province confer

1:20:49the powers on municipalities to create a lobbying bylaw, a registry and a registrar? And I answer

1:20:55it's about accountability and government decision making. And this is what your council has decided,

1:21:00that you want to be accountable but transparent, allowing all to not only have a voice, but also

1:21:06know who is influencing members of council and senior staff in making municipal decisions.

1:21:12If a matter is governed by an established municipal procedure under the Planning Act,

1:21:16the Procurement Bylaw, the Heritage Act, Council Meeting Management Rules, then individuals and

1:21:22businesses wishing to influence council in the decisions they make under these processes do

1:21:27not need to register as lobbyists. The online registry allows the public a window into government

1:21:33decision making to view those who are suggesting new processes or bylaws, what they're suggesting,

1:21:40and to whom. The lobbyist code of conduct adds standards of conduct for lobbyists that promote

1:21:47public trust in government decision making by requiring registration in the registry and to

1:21:52adhere to conduct that is fair and transparent. Of note, there have been no complaints brought

1:21:58forward to my office in this reporting year. A complaint would mean that an individual member

1:22:03of the public or council as a whole or a council member believes that an individual or a business

1:22:09should have registered and did not or did register but did not file a return setting out when they

1:22:16lobbied, a brief description of what they lobbied on and who they lobbied. My role with respect

1:22:23to investigations is only triggered when I receive a complaint. I have no power to independently

1:22:28commence an investigation. I don't have own motion powers. However, I do from time to time

1:22:34review registrations on the registry with a view to identifying gaps or omissions in information

1:22:40provided. There were 40 new registrations in this reporting period. There were 24 returns of lobbying

1:22:46communication from the last report when I tabled in February of 2025 and about 36 in this reporting

1:22:57period up to the end of January, a little over this reporting period. Examples of lobbying

1:23:02registrations include requests for discussions about review of a city bylaw to perhaps include

1:23:09consideration of commercially scooters, a company discussing potential new opportunities for municipal

1:23:15road maintenance using different technologies, the use of potentially AI technology for pedestrian

1:23:21safety. So the registrations do not guarantee that the public office holder or member of council

1:23:26will meet with the lobbyists or that the matter is within the city scope to transact. And if there

1:23:32is a meeting, the lobbying of a public office holder does not circumvent any existing approved city

1:23:38procedure. In other words, meeting with a member of council or a senior staff with a new idea or a

1:23:46process may very well lead to the matter being rooted through one of your departments with one of

1:23:51your staff who have carriage of this area, or it could be a conversation identifying that this is

1:23:57outside of the jurisdiction of the city. The takeaway I believe is that there are many matters

1:24:03in which the municipality benefits in learning from individuals and businesses, new technologies

1:24:09and different initiatives. The registry is simply a way to give the public access to those

1:24:14communications that happened so that it's understood that future decisions may have been influenced

1:24:20by these conversations and the public and others know by whom and with whom these communications

1:24:26have happened so that transparency is at an optimum. In this reporting period, I received

1:24:33six general inquiries, two from members of council, two from staff and two from the public,

1:24:38about either the registry or the interpretation of the bylaw. General communications about the

1:24:43administration of the registry are not counted in this number. Informal discussions with staff

1:24:49or simple clarification from council members are not listed as inquiries. In fact, there were about

1:24:5518 administrative or request for direction type conversations with my office that were not inquiries.

1:25:02I did not conduct any education sessions and there were no updates that I'm proposing to the

1:25:08existing regime or bylaw at this time as I've not identified any concerns and there have been no

1:25:14complaints received by my office. The general questions that I've received in my view evidence

1:25:19a real desire on the part of members of council and the public to understand the workings of the

1:25:24registry regime and what is required to be in compliance with the bylaw. In conclusion, I'd

1:25:29just like to echo Mr. Mascarin's comments about the clerk staff who have been wonderful in assisting

1:25:37me. Their professional assistance has been most helpful as I went through this reporting year

1:25:43and I'd like to conclude by thanking you, Mayor Guthrie and members of council for your leadership

1:25:47and adopting the lobbyist registry as part of the city suite of accountability and transparency tools.

1:25:53Thank you. Well thank you very much for joining us. Sorry I messed up on the one year versus two

1:26:00year. I apologize. I hope you don't do an inquiry on that but there you go. All right. I have one

1:26:06question from Councillor Allt that would like to talk to you. Thank you very much, Mayor Guthrie.

1:26:13I would be happy to move the report as well if you wish. Through you to Ms. Craig. Ms. Craig,

1:26:19this is a learning experience for me and it probably is for others as well. So I apologize

1:26:25if these questions are a bit mundane. Is it a duty of a councillor if they suspect somebody

1:26:33should be registered to report that person? Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Allt.

1:26:41The short answer is no. The lobbyist registry is about lobbyists so it is outside looking

1:26:49there is a mirror of the transactions with public office holders. However, the responsibility to

1:26:56register, the responsibility to file a return lies with the lobbyist. Now if a member of council

1:27:05is meeting with someone who has brought forward a matter that does not seem to be covered by any of

1:27:10your approved processes or bylaws or a statute, certainly as an ambassador and a leader of the

1:27:17organization, you can remind individuals and businesses, you know, we have a lobbyist registry

1:27:23and you might want to familiarize yourself with the processes but there is no obligation in your

1:27:28bylaw that requires a member of council if they believe an individual is a lobbyist and hasn't

1:27:35registered to contact my office or file a complaint. Thank you. Following that up with a corollary to

1:27:43it and this might be completely outside your responsibility. What about staff? Do they have,

1:27:50are they covered by the lobbyist registry? If they suspect somebody should be registered,

1:27:57where does staff fall on this? Thank you. Through the Mayor to you, sir. So the envisioning of a

1:28:04lobbyist registry as part of a suite of accountability tools set out prior to the lobbyist

1:28:12registry coming into force that there would be education at least for the first year, if not the

1:28:18first couple of years and looking at the various examples in Ontario and outside of Ontario, the

1:28:26City of Guelph, its staff through consultations with the public through consultations with members

1:28:31of council decided that they would default to the responsibility of the lobbyist and then after one

1:28:38year or two year review determine it there are stronger requirements needed, i.e. should members

1:28:44of council be required such as at the City of Toronto where members of council who believe

1:28:50that an individual is lobbying and has not registered have to stop the meeting and have to bring that to

1:28:55the attention of the lobbyist. Many of the jurisdictions in Ontario that have lobbyist

1:29:01registries and lobbyist registrars have decided that they want that responsibility, that responsibility

1:29:07to remain with the lobbyist. That being said, your staff and information bulletins have gone out

1:29:14and members of council are encouraged to contact my office if they believe that they have been lobbied

1:29:20or there has been lobbying activity with a company or an individual who has not registered and that's

1:29:26why you have the lobbyist registry because all you have to do is take a look at the registry

1:29:31and see the individual's name or the company's name when if they did meet and communicate with

1:29:36a public office holder and if it's not there or if the subject matter is different from the

1:29:42conversations you had, a conversation with the lobbyist registrar is warranted, it's not required.

1:29:49Thank you and I think it's the last question, I hope it is but I appreciate your answers.

1:29:53Does a person who is part of a lobbying or delegating activity where one member of the

1:30:00delegation is a registered lobbyist, if that person is not registered, should they be registered as well

1:30:08especially if they're not just acting as a resource but are actually actively intervening

1:30:14and lobbying or delegating? Through the Mayor to you Councillor, there are different types of

1:30:21lobbyists and of course a lobbyist might work for a company and therefore register the business

1:30:28and speak on behalf of the business, they are given that authority to speak on behalf of the

1:30:33business. Anyone who contacts my office, I always say if you have two or three individuals from your

1:30:41business attending a lobbying meeting with a member of council or a member of staff

1:30:47that all those individuals should be listed, you might have an engineer, you might have a planner,

1:30:53you might have an individual who is looking at government relations, you might have an individual,

1:30:57so even though it is one organization, if the various individuals attending the meeting

1:31:03have different portfolios remembering that we are looking at transparency, why is the meeting

1:31:10happening? What is it that the group is trying to communicate to the public office holder to

1:31:16perhaps bring life to a new bylaw, bring life to a new process? So ordinarily if an individual is

1:31:23a consultant lobbyist, they work for a company and a couple of other people come as you said

1:31:30in support, then all do not have to list their names, but I just believe that in the event that

1:31:37there is an investigation, it's better to list who attended the meeting, their roles in the company,

1:31:43transparencies about providing all the information that the public and members of council need to

1:31:48make decisions. I do have one last question for you, it's an opinion question. Is it in your

1:31:55opinion appropriate for this council like the City of Toronto to make it incumbent upon councillors

1:32:01to report if they suspect they are being lobbied? Through the Mayor to you, councillor, I don't

1:32:09give opinions unless they are written opinions and I do believe that council is the decision maker

1:32:16here. You will decide what is best for your jurisdiction and you have an opportunity with

1:32:21the yearly review with your staff who able come out and ask your opinion on whether or not there

1:32:28should be changes. My role is to look at what came on my desk to determine if there is a need for a

1:32:37change. As I said, investigations are complaint driven. I have not received any complaints

1:32:44at this point with the questions that I have received. I don't believe that there is evidence

1:32:50that there is a need for a more robust regime. That being said, councillor Supreme, if that is

1:32:57your will, you have a one-year review after the election and you may do so. Thank you very much.

1:33:06Thank you, councillor Allt. You moved it. Would someone be willing to second councillor Gibson?

1:33:11I see no further questions, I believe. No further. Suzanne, thank you so much. You have

1:33:19yourself a great rest of the evening and thank you for your presentation. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1:33:22Thank you, members of council. Good night. Bye-bye. I will call the vote then. Is anyone

1:33:28against that receiving of that presentation? That is unanimous. Thank you. We are moving