The Conservative government will support a Liberal motion to include parliamentary secretaries in the federal Lobbying Act in the wake of the Rahim Jaffer affair but wants to go a step further in bolstering lobbying rules.

Treasury Board President Stockwell Day says his party wants to extend the provisions of the act to designate all MPs and senators as holders of public office and require them to register all contact with lobbyists with the federal lobbying commissioner.

Day made the announcement shortly after Liberal MP Siobhan Coady presented the motion in the House of Commons. It is expected to be voted on Wednesday evening.

The Liberals say the Conservatives have failed to deliver on their 2006 campaign pledge to tighten lobbying rules and left in place a loophole that allows people serving as the parliamentary secretary to a minister to meet with lobbyists without filing monthly reports about their activities.

The government has disclosed that Jaffer, a former Conservative MP, met with Brian Jean, parliamentary secretary to Transport Minister John Baird, to discuss how his company, Green Power Generation, might get funding from the federal Green Infrastructure Fund for its energy projects.

But the Conservatives have downplayed Jaffer's contact with government officials and insist no federal money ever went to Jaffer's firm.

"It's interesting that after four years that this particular loophole has existed, that the government all of a sudden comes forward with a proposal that they may want to fix it after they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar," Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale said in a panel interview Tuesday with the CBC's Evan Solomon.

Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro countered that the government didn't get much support from the Liberals when it brought in the federal Accountability Act.

"Prior to that four years, it wasn't a loophole; it was a Liberal revolving door," Del Mastro said.

NDP MP Pat Martin said his party would support both the Liberal and Conservative proposals but said the only reason they were coming forward was the Jaffer allegations.

The accusation that Jaffer unlawfully lobbied government officials emerged after he was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession.

Jaffer denies lobbying

Jaffer, who turned to entrepreneurship after he lost his Edmonton seat in 2008 but never registered as a lobbyist, has consistently denied that his or his business partner Patrick Glémaud's activities constituted lobbying.

The Lobbying Act defines a lobbyist as someone who, acting on behalf of a person or organization "for payment," undertakes to communicate with a holder of public office with the intent of obtaining a grant, government contract or some form of regulatory or policy change.

Jaffer has said his firm never received remuneration for his meetings and conversations with ministers and officials.

The federal Lobbying Act currently requires that anyone who lobbies the government provide regular reports on their activities, including the officials they talked to and on whose behalf. Failure to comply can result in penalties of up to two years in jail and $200,000 in fines.

Jaffer's wife, MP Helena Guergis, resigned from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet and was kicked out of the Conservative caucus last month following unspecified allegations about her conduct. Harper said he referred the matter to the RCMP, as well as the federal ethics and lobbying commissioners.

Guergis has denied any wrongdoing and insists she will co-operate fully with any investigation.

Tory ministers won't appear

Meanwhile, Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis and Labour Minister Lisa Raitt have refused to appear on Wednesday at the parliamentary committee investigating allegations of lobbying by Jaffer.

"Each of us should be reluctant to do anything that would affect or compromise any potential ongoing investigation," Raitt wrote to the clerk of the committee Tuesday.

Government documents have shown that one of Paradis' staff put pressure on bureaucrats to meet with Jaffer and Glemaud when Paradis was public works minister. Jaffer and Glemaud were pushing a project to put solar panels on the rooftops of government buildings.

They had approached at least five other ministerial offices about other renewable energy proposals.

Raitt said she has found no relevant documents after a search of her office records.

With files from The Canadian Press