The government will make changes to the Lobbying Act to include all MPs and Senators as designated public office holders after former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer allegedly engaged in unregistered lobbying activities last year.

Treasury Board President Stockwell Day's (Okanagan-Coquihalla, B.C.) office confirmed last week that the government intends to add all Parliamentarians to the list of people who lobbyists need to identify as having had communication with on a monthly basis. "Yes, we are working on it," Melisa Leclerc, a spokesperson for Mr. Day, told The Hill Times in an email. "We will let media know when we're ready to announce something."

In response to news that Mr. Jaffer and his business partner Patrick Glémaud, co-founders of Green Power Generation, allegedly lobbied Conservative MPs and Cabinet ministers, while not registering to do so for access to federal investments under the Green Infrastructure Fund, the Liberal Party used an opposition day in May to introduce a motion stating that Parliamentary secretaries should be added to the list of designated public office holders.

Current designated public office holders include Cabinet ministers and ministers of state and their staff, deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers, assistant deputy ministers, chief executive officers and several other governor in council appointees. The Conservatives amended the motion to include all Parliamentarians, including backbench and opposition MPs and Senators, as designated public office holders. The motion passed unanimously.

Lobbyists at the time called the move a "knee-jerk" reaction to an isolated case, in which Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud should have known the rules.

Last week, Conservative strategist Tim Powers, vice-president of lobbying firm Summa Strategies, said that it's not necessarily the rules that are inefficient, but that people are not following them.

"I think you should always look at the effectiveness of legislation," he said, noting there are already severe consequences in the Federal Accountability Act for those who break the law. "I think there are tools in the Accountability Act that allow people who have not adhered to it to be properly punished. The focus has to be people who are breaking it, not the people who are adhering to it. The people who are adhering to it should not suffer immeasurably. I think there's always improvements that can be brought forward but people do have a right to represent and if you do it within the confines of the law, I think that's a good thing. I think everybody has to guard against an overreaction."

Mr. Jaffer, who was first elected in 1997 as a Reform MP in Edmonton Strathcona, Alta., and re-elected in every election until 2008 when he lost his seat to NDP MP Linda Duncan, has been in the middle of a political storm since September 2009 when he was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession. The charges were dropped for a lesser charge of careless driving to which he pleaded guilty and was fined $500. The Toronto Star broke a sensational story about that fateful night. The story, published in April 2010, connected to him to an alleged conman who he was reportedly going into business with, which then opened up allegations of inappropriate lobbying activities on behalf of his company Green Power Generation. Mr. Jaffer has denied conducting unregistered lobbying or receiving a penny of federal funds.

Mr. Jaffer has had dealings with several Conservative MPs and ministers over the federal government's $1-billion Green Infrastructure Fund. Mr. Jaffer is married to former Conservative minister of state Helena Guergis (Simcoe-Grey, Ont.) who was kicked out of Cabinet. He has denied he lobbied anybody in the Conservative government, but rather made contact with several of his previous colleagues for information gathering. But MPs later came out to publicly say that Mr. Jaffer had contacted either them, or members of their staff with regard to funding various energy projects.

These people include: Conservative MP Brian Jean (Fort McMurray-Athabasca, Alta.), Parliamentary secretary to the Transport and Infrastructure Minister and responsible for $1-billion Green Infrastructure fund; Doug Maley, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Western Economic Diversification; David Pierce, director of Parliamentary affairs to the Industry Minister; Andrew House, director of operations and France Lavergne, special assistant of operations for the minister of state for science and technology; Sébastien Togneri, director of Parliamentary affairs to then Public Works Minister Christian Paradis (Mégantic-L'Érable, Que.); Catherine Godbout, senior communications adviser to then minister of state for small business Diane Ablonczy (Calgary-Nose Hill, Alta.), and Rob Taylor, chief of staff to Ms. Ablonczy; and Scott Wenger, constituency assistant to Environment Minister Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre North, Alta.).

Mr. Jean is the Parliamentary secretary to Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird (Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.) who had control of the $1-billion Green Infrastructure Fund, and opposition MPs say he should have been subject to the Lobbying Act, in which registered lobbyists would have to record any meetings or written communications with him. The House Government Operations and Estimates Committee studied the issue prior to the House adjourning, calling Mr. Jaffer before the committee twice, Mr. Glémaud, Nazim Gillani, the alleged conman, Derek Snowdy, a private investigator involved in handing over information about Ms. Guergis and Mr. Jaffer which led to Ms. Guergis being fired from Cabinet, and several others in an attempt to uncover whether Mr. Jaffer was engaging in unregistered lobbying and to what extent the Conservative MPs were helping to further his business. Green Power Generation did not receive any federal government funding for any of the projects that have publicly been reported.

Liberal MP Siobhan Coady (St. John's South-Mount Pearl, Nfld.), a member of the House Government Operations Committee, said the committee has not concluded its study on the issue and will most likely still hear from Ms. Guergis when the House returns in the fall.

Meanwhile, at the request of Liberal MP Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Lachine, Que.), Ethics and Conflict of Interest Commissioner Mary Dawson recently opened an investigation on Mr. Paradis's potential conflict of interest in the situation. Ms. Coady said the committee might also want to recall Mr. Paradis, who previously declined to appear, before the committee again.

"Mr. Paradis did admit that Mr. Jaffer did have his personal cellphone and they did discuss business on the personal cellphone. That's not available to most Canadians, that you could phone up a minister and say, 'Hey, can you have a look at this proposal that you're responsible for. I'd like to put panels on your roof,'" Ms. Coady told The Hill Times last week. "It seems like who you know matters."

NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) also said last week that the committee, which often erupted into chaos during its hearings into the lobbying activities, has not finished its study. "The Government Ops Committee fully intended to wrap this up with a final appearance from Helena Guergis. I think there will have to be some concluding investigation because we haven't, to our satisfaction, explored the depth of the influence peddling that took place and how many ministers were involved, and Mr. Paradis's office especially," he said. "Our investigation would be incomplete if we didn't explore the Paradis office connection a little further."

Mr. Powers said while it's important to find out the truth, the committee hearings should not be used for "political theatre," but rather about getting answers. "If it's just going to be theatre and answers, then you have to question its nature," he said. "Ministers have made themselves available to appear before committees before and answered questions, particularly as it related to the Jaffer-Guergis debacle. ... There has been in my view a full openness about all of it, so if people are serious about getting answers, then good. But if they're not I don't think it does anybody great service."

Mr. Martin also said that the potentially new Lobbying Act rules are a "matter of great interest" to the committee. "I was always frustrated and confused by the dog's breakfast that exists out there as to which rules apply to whom because of a designation," he said. "I can't see how a Member of Parliament is not considered a public office holder. We run for public office and, by very definition, we're public office holders and I don't see why we aren't deemed to be in the Lobbying Act."

People Rahim Jaffer and Patrick Glémaud met or communicated with in their capacity as the heads of Green Power Generation:

Conservative MP Brian Jean, Parliamentary secretary to the Transport and Infrastructure Minister responsible for $1-billion Green Infrastructure fund

• Informal meetings in June 2009 to discuss Green Infrastructure Fund, received three project summaries from Green Power Generation.

• Mr. Jaffer sent an email in August 2009 recommending preference for solar projects"if there needs to be a choice between the two."

• Letter to Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd from Brian Jean, April 19: "To reiterate in writing, in June of last year, Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud stopped by my office on one occasion to inquire about the federal Green Infrastructure Fund. It was an unscheduled and informal meeting. I explained the mandate and general details of the Fund. They asked about the application process and I explained that project summaries were sent to my office and if projects fit the merit and eligibility requirements as laid out in the Fund's official mandate, the paperwork would be sent to Infrastructure Canada for further analysis and due diligence. If they were recommended by Infrastructure Canada, they would then go in front of the Minister of Infrastructure for approval. No specific projects were discussed and no commitments were ever made during this time or at any other time by any party regarding any possible projects and at no time did Mr. Jaffer or Mr. Glémaud ever ask for my support. ... Finally, as I discussed with you on the phone, the following is my past schedule as it relates to Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud:

Second week of June, 2009, afternoon: informal drop-by meeting, 324 West Block, Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud present.

Friday, Sept. 4, 2009: 4 p.m. social drink at pub – appointment cancelled due to another meeting running overtime.

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009: 10 p.m. social drink at pub with Mr. Jaffer and, to my recollection, Mr. Glémaud. My son who is attending university here was also present for this reason I believe no business was discussed

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009: 10 p.m. Helena Guergis's Christmas Party. Mr. Jaffer was present – no business was discussed."

Kimberley Michelutti, special assistant to Conservative MP Brian Jean

• Email from July 2009 as follow up to project summaries and eligibility for the Green Infrastructure Fund, requesting "maximum of share funding required from the federal will be 25 per cent of the total eligible cost, namely, $58-million."

Doug Maley, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Western Economic Diversification

• Phone call and emails in May and June 2009, regarding proposal "to carry out a full scale mercury capture test."

• Mr. Jaffer emailed Mr. Maley information on a "proposed technology development plan for the Alberta based producer (TransAlta) and distributor, (Enmax). The proposal is for a Canadian company RLP Energy Inc., in conjunction with the EERC, to carry out a full scale mercury capture test at Trans-Alta's Keephill utility site. The site will be prepared and offered by Trans Alta and they will offer the required plant assistance to carry out the testing. ... It is desired that the Canadian federal government, through Western Economic Diversification, invest approximately $700,000 CDN as an active partner in the program."

• Mr. Maley then emailed David Woynorowski on May 27, asking, "Can you have someone review this on a priority basis as I need to get back to Rahim this Friday afternoon on whether this may be of interest to WD."

David Pierce, director of Parliamentary affairs to Industry Minister Tony Clement

• Phone call on March 17, 2010 inquiring about Canada's Long Term Space Policy.

• "Mr. Jaffer, using an MP email account assigned to the office of Helena Guergis, requested information 'on behalf of constituents and close personal friends of Helena and I,' and as I had not spoken with him in quite a while, I requested a phone call." —Letter to Ethics and Conflict of Interest Commissioner Mary Dawson from Mr. Pierce

Andrew House, director of operations, office of the minister of state for science and technology Gary Goodyear, pictured, and France Lavergne, special assistant operations to Mr. Goodyear

• Meeting regarding the eligibility criteria of Southern Ontario Development program, Nov. 13, 2009.

"During the meeting, Mr. Glémaud made inquiries regarding the eligibility criteria of SODP. Mr. House provided a general overview of eligibility for funding under SODP as published on the FedDev website." —Letter from Phillip Welford to Lobbying Commissioner, April 19

Sébastien Togneri, director of parliamentary affairs to then Public Works Minister Christian Paradis

• Email regarding possibility of putting solar power panels on Government of Canada building rooftops.

• "Hey Sebastien, thanks again! I just spoke with Christian and we are going to try and get together for beers next week when he comes back to Ottawa. He also suggested that I coordinate with you the chance to find someone like the deputy minister to speak with to give more info about the solar proposal we are working on to see if there is a fit with public works. I will leave it to you to let me know what you think and we can plan to get all the information together to share with the appropriate people. Thanks, Rahim." —Email from Rahim Jaffer to Sebastien Togneri August 27, 2009

• After an original meeting on Sept. 16 was cancelled, Mr. Togneri emailed André Morin (strategic adviser to the deputy minister's office, public works) and Sandy White on Sept. 30, 2009, "The sector has had this for weeks. What's the hold-up?"

• The meeting was rescheduled and occurred on Oct. 28.

• Email from Anna Cullinan Sept. 22, 2009 to Nancy Harris, Ravi Sundararaj, Jean-Rock Tourigny, Peter Meldrum, March Beaudoin (RJ), Gilles Brasseur, Satish Bansal: "FYI, it is back on track and the Minister's office wants to be involved."

Catherine Godbout, senior communications adviser to then minister of state for small business Diane Ablonczy and Rob Taylor, chief of staff to Ms. Ablonczy

• Email on Sept. 1, 2009 regarding meeting on behalf of Reseau de Developpement Economique et de l'Employabilite: "Hey Catherine, thanks very much for your follow up on this. Rob was kind enough to help out with this before the unfortunate handling of the situation with PMO. My contact is Frank Saulnier, who is a friend and was a big supporter of mine over my political career. I'm not working for them in any way, but offered to help them as I had a good relationship with their organization while elected. Let me know if you have any questions as it would be great if a meeting can be coordinated for next week as they sent the original letter over six months ago

Thanks again for your attention to this! Rahim."

• Mr. Jaffer also emailed Rob Taylor, Ms. Ablonczy's chief of staff on Sept. 1: "I was asked to check about that group we spoke about a while back, the RDEE. They have sent Diane a couple of letters and were hoping to still meet her next week while in Ottawa. Let me know if this may still be possible as they are eager to meet with you guys."

Scott Wenger, constituency assistant to Environment Minister Jim Prentice

• April 2009 meeting "discussions involved representations by Mr. Jaffer on behalf of a company."

—Source: documents tabled by Transport Minister John Baird, in the House of Commons, April 22, 2010