Inside Politics

Transparency Watch: Do you know who your (or someone else's) lobbyist is meeting?

by Kady O'Malley Posted: September 6, 2012 11:28 AM Last Updated: September 6, 2012 11:52 AM
While it's not quite the realtime reporting regime of one's dreams, hot off the OCL presses comes word that you can now pull up registrations and communications logs by filing date. 

While that may not sound like a significant enhancement, it will definitely come in handy when tracing belated submissions -- like, for instance, those conference calls between Barrick Gold and PMO chief of staff Nigel Wright, which were posted several months after the lobbying itself took place, despite the 15th-of-the-next-month deadline for doing so. 

Until today, you could only search the communications log registry by date of meeting, which meant that late additions could slide under the radar. 

The new interface also makes it easier to keep track of new -- as opposed to renewed or reactivated -- registrations. 

According to the note from the commission's office pointing out the new tools, these are only the first of two upgrades to the current registry search system, with the second expected to go live later this year. Stay tuned!  

Tags: blackberry jungle, lobbywatch