After every election, a new surge of lobbying begins by interest groups and organizations.
The B.C. Liberals can expect to be swamped with requests for meetings, ideas for policy changes, demands for new programs and appeals for insider information. They face immediate and intense pressure from highly organized and connected lobbyists with formidable resources.
Government officials could use a political equivalent of Hogwart School’s “Defence Against the Dark Arts” course to prepare for the rigours of being intensely lobbied. But even if they’re not Harry Potter, they can learn to manage powerful influences.
Various rules and directives related to lobbying are in place, in addition to criminal-law provisions. The avoidance of self-dealing and conflicts of interest are obvious. Legal limits are set on receiving gifts or being hosted. A lobbyist registry provides a reference source about those who represent organizations, clients or employers.
Those rules do not, however, provide practical guidance about how to actually deal with lobbyists. They explain what to avoid, but not much else. So, how to deal with lobbyists after you’ve read the basic rules?
Lobbying is the way most people express their views to governments. It’s how governments are asked to do something, stop doing something or do it differently. Universities use lobbyists. So do churches and environmental not-for-profits and professional associations. Lobbying is legitimate and necessary, although the ways it is practised can be inappropriate. Its legitimacy can be undermined by those who try to exploit their political and personal connections, or attempt to coerce governments with some form of “or else” ultimatum.
Lobbyists employ tactics borrowed from political campaigns. They rally public interest and support, and influence the news media to provide sympathetic coverage. They know how to manipulate complex government decision processes. What may at first glance appear to be a grassroots surge of support for a policy position may actually be a form of “Astroturf,” synthetically produced in a clever and well-funded campaign.
The most valued lobbyists are those who develop coherent, timely and innovative solutions in what they propose. Others in the lobbying business are primarily door-openers or “dating services” promising access to government decision-makers.
The new Christy Clark government, if it wants to avoid future scandals or at least bad press, should begin by making government information more transparent and widely distributed through industry and professional associations, NGOs and unions. Regular briefings and liaisons with those organizations that represent the wide swath of interests can enable a fairer distribution of information than the current one that favours full-time, well-connected lobbyists.
A special dilemma is how to deal with the biggest stakeholders — business and labour — who lobby most actively. In B.C., business and labour are typically viewed as being firmly aligned, if not intertwined in money and ideology, with opposing political parties.
In the television program Project Runway, the host explains to contestants: One day you’re in, the next day you’re out. That may be the case for those who are elected or defeated, but it would be short-sighted to apply that criteria to the province’s main economic stakeholders.
The B.C. Liberals were elected with considerable business support, but that backing is not an entitlement to special lobbying privileges. It is time for B.C. to refocus its economic and social policies beyond conflicting ideologies. Innovative advisory boards and roundtables could force business and labour to begin reconciling their opposing views and finding common ground, instead of confronting each other in costly and unproductive lobbying battles.
Successful government leaders appreciate lobbyists most when they present workable solutions, not politically dubious, self-serving or high-risk policies. That may seem obvious, but some lobbyists continue to call for programs, policies and funding without a sense of the circumstances that the government is facing.
The ideal lobbyists recognize the constraints of government officials who face tough choices, finite resources, contrary lobbying arguments and entrenched interests. They offer ways to reinforce the broad themes of the government’s policy initiatives.
Today’s public distrusts politicians and is wary of the perceived influence of lobbyists. For the new Clark government, here’s an opportunity to open up government and to shine a light into legitimate means of developing good public policy.
Ken Beeson is an economist who specializes in managing government advisory boards and served as a chartered bank lobbyist in Ottawa. Ian Waddell is a lawyer, government relations consultant and former member of Parliament and B.C. cabinet minister.
