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Questions for the B.C. Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists; as to whether there is any difference between a “lobbyist organization” in B.C., and a “professional organization” in B.C.

By Sasha Izard
July 17, 2024

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The following is an email sent to the BC Lobbyists Registry
on July 11, 2024:

Hello BCORL,

1. What is the difference between a “lobbyist organization” in B.C., and a “professional organization” in B.C.?

2. Can a “professional organization” simultaneously be a “lobbyist organization”?

3. Is there a government registry of “professional organizations”?

4. How does one determine if an organization is legally defined as a “professional organization”?  

Thank you,
Sasha Izard

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The response from the BC Lobbyists Registry
on July 16, 2024:

Hello Sasha Izard,

Subsection (b) of the definition of “organization” in the Lobbyists Transparency Act (LTA) includes professional organizations. For your reference, the LTA’s full definition of “organization” is as follows:

“organization” includes any of the following, whether incorporated, unincorporated, a sole proprietorship or a partnership:

(a) a person other than a person on whose behalf a consultant lobbyist undertakes to lobby;

(b) a business, trade, industry, professional or voluntary organization;

(c) a trade union or labour organization;

(d) a chamber of commerce or board of trade;

(e) a charitable or non-profit organization, association, society, coalition or interest group;

(f) a government, other than the government of British Columbia;

Please note that the LTA does not contain a definition of “lobbyist organization”. Rather, the LTA defines “organization” and requires that any “organization” with “in-house lobbyists” register its lobbying activities in accordance with the requirements set out under the LTA, unless any of the exclusions set out under the LTA apply. For more information on these exclusions, I recommend that you take a look at our Getting Started – Reference Guide , specifically the section titled “Do any of the exclusions apply?” starting on page 5.

For your reference, the mandate of the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists for BC (ORL) is to oversee, monitor and enforce the Lobbyists Transparency Act. It is noted that some of the questions you have asked appear to fall outside the jurisdiction of the ORL and appear to be seeking legal opinion or guidance on matters not addressed by the LTA. As such, we are unable to advise whether there exists a government registry of “professional organizations”. I can confirm, however, that the BC Lobbyists Registry’s purpose is not to be a registry of professional organizations. Rather, the purpose of the BC Lobbyists Registry is to provide transparency about lobbying activities in British Columbia – past and present.

To seek legal opinion, definitions and resources that fall outside the jurisdiction of the ORL and the regulations set out under the LTA, or to obtain assistance with performing legal research, it is recommend that you seek the assistance of your own legal council. Please note that the ORL will not be responsible for any costs you incur in pursuing such endeavours.

Sincerely,

ORL

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Email response sent to the BC Lobbyists Registry
on July 16, 2024:

Hello BCORL,

Thank you for your response.

Regarding the content of your response, I think if question 2: Can a “professional organization” simultaneously be a “lobbyist organization”?  were simply a “yes” or “no” question, the answer from you would be a “yes” based on what I’ve read from the content of your response. 

Do I interpret that correctly? 

If question 2 is a simply “yes” or “no” answer, is your answer to question 2: “no”?

I see that you have not answered the question as to whether or not there exists a government registry for “professional organizations”, as you consider that question to be outside your scope, however, if as a branch of the government of BC, you do not have the answer to that question, then which branch of the government as a member of the public, should I contact to find the answer?

Notably professional organization is mentioned in the LTA, so presumably you should have some method of determining whether or not a professional organization is a professional organization. What method does the BCORL use to determine that?

Similarly, you should have a method of determining whether an interest group is an interest group, “as interest group” is included in the LTA.

How does the BCORL determine what organizations are “interest groups”?

As you mentioned from the LTA:

“(b) a business, trade, industry, professional or voluntary organization;”


(e) a charitable or non-profit organization, association, society, coalition or interest group;

Thank you again,
Sasha Izard

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Email sent after to the BCORL:

Correction to my previous email in regard to question (2):

As the BC Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists has pointed out:

“the LTA does not contain a definition of “lobbyist organization”.

And previously, the BCORL informed me that the LTA does not have a definition of lobby as a noun.

I would like then to rephrase question 2, as a simple “yes” or “no” answer from you:

2. Can a “professional organization” simultaneously be a lobbying organization in British Columbia?

Thank you again,
Sasha

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The BC Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists (BCORL) responds by email after 10 days:

“Good Morning Sasha Izard,

We are unable to provide a legal definition or precise interpretation of the terms “professional organization” and “interest group”, as these terms are not defined in the LTA. When interpreting and applying any section of the LTA, including the definition of “organization” which, as you note, includes professional organizations and interest groups, we must consider the context and facts of a specific situation in front of us.

There are many freely available legal resources that provide definitions of these terms. These definitions are not authoritative but may provide you with a general idea of which types of entities may fall into the categories of “professional organization” or “interest group”.

We cannot provide a simple “yes” or “no” answer to your question “Can a “professional organization” simultaneously be a lobbying organization in British Columbia?”. We have provided you with a fulsome answer to this question in a prior correspondence.”

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My response:

Hello BCORL,

“We have provided you with a fulsome answer to this question in a prior correspondence.”

Where?

Please copy and paste your “fulsome answer” to this question in a prior correspondence.”

How can a “fulsome answer” to a “yes” or “no” question, not contain a “yes”, or a “no”?

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Helpful? Not particularly, but this is the Government of British Columbia that we are talking about.

Looking for a straight answer to the public they are supposed to represent? Don’t hold your breath. That isn’t what they are trained to do.

Evasive? Given their inability to provide a straight yes, or no answer according to the English language, and even to the terminology in their own LTA, I’d say so.

“Professional organization” and “interest group” are also according to the BCORL, not defined in the LTA and so they won’t comment on them, even though the term “organization” is defined in the LTA and the LTA includes terms not apparently defined in the LTA according to the BCORL, e.g. “professional organization” and “interest group”.

From the LTA:

“(b) a business, trade, industry, professional or voluntary organization;”

(e) a charitable or non-profit organization, association, society, coalition or interest group;

So there you have it, if these terms are undefined in the LTA, even if the LTA uses the terms, the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists is unable to compute them according to their logic.

This demonstrates the cruciality of legally defining the terminology used in the LTA, and including those definitions in the LTA. If it is not legally defined in the LTA; the BCORL and by extension the BC government, will simply use the lack of a definition, as a means of continuing an air of plausible deniability around the terms, thus allowing all sorts of potential ethical conflicts of interest involving lobbies and the government to continue unchecked.

Following the BCORL’s logic, there is a Lobbyists Transparency Act (LTA) that the BC Lobbyists Registry is concerned with, and there are “organizations” that hire “in-house lobbyists”, but there are no “lobbyist organizations” as defined in the LTA.

While numerous organizations (“organization” is a term defined in the LTA) are registered on the “BC Lobbyists Registry”, according to the requirements in the LTA; as far as the the BC Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists is concerned “lobbyist organizations” are not defined in the LTA.

I guess that’s it.

Nothing more to see here folks…

There aren’t any lobbies in BC, only organizations that lobby in BC.



See also: Does the Provincial Government of British Columbia Legally Recognize the Existence of Any Lobby? – Creatively United Community