City Hall and Developers

lob⋅by⋅ist


ˈlɒb i ɪst Show Spelled Pronunciation [lob-ee-ist]

“a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest”


Lobbying has been part of the political landscape since the beginning of time. Community groups, ratepayer associations, private companies, associations, not-for-profit groups are all lobbyists who want to influence public policy. Lobbying may be as benign as: an individual representing neighbours in front of council for a park or as significant as developers who want a change in the municipality’s official plan. Lobbying is legal and can be a good thing when it brings new information to an issue or lets the political system know how the constituency feels. But lobbying must have parameters and must be transparent to the general public.

Let’s focus on councils where I have some experience. My time on Burlington City Council indicated to me that lobbying takes place constantly with environment groups promoting sustainability, the art centre needing a new air conditioning system, ratepayer groups wanting less development or developers wanting members of council “on side” for their development. These issues will eventually be in front of council and the public should be aware of whom our politicians have been discussing the issue with and we can evaluate what impact lobbying is having on our political system. Therefore, not-for-profit and for-profit companies and associations should be registered as lobbyists and what contacts they have with council and staff. The list should be placed on the web site, in a timely fashion, for all to see and we will decide who is being influenced and who is not. There will be a cost to registering lobbyists but what is the cost of not registering lobbyists?