The House of Commons has voted unanimously in favour of a Liberal motion to toughen lobbying rules in the wake of the Rahim Jaffer affair, but the Conservative government is vowing to go a step further.

Treasury Board president Stockwell Day says the federal Lobbying Act should be extended to cover all MPs and senators. Treasury Board president Stockwell Day says the federal Lobbying Act should be extended to cover all MPs and senators. (Pawel Dwulit/Canadian Press)The motion calls for the extension of the federal Lobbying Act to add parliamentary secretaries to the list of designated public office holders, and requires ministers and other senior government officials to proactively record and report their contacts with lobbyists.

It comes after last week's revelations that former Conservative MP Jaffer and his business partner met with Brian Jean, the parliamentary secretary to Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird, over access to federal funding for alternative-energy projects.

But Treasury Board president Stockwell Day upped the ante by saying the motion should be amended to include all members of Parliament, including opposition MPs and senators and accusing Michael Ignatieff's Liberals of "backing up" on their push to tighten restrictions on lobbyists.

The current rule only requires lobbyists to file monthly reports on all pre-arranged communications with designated public office holders, not the public office holders themselves.

Jaffer, Guergis to testify together on June 9

Rahim Jaffer and his wife, former Conservative cabinet minister Helena Guergis, will appear before a parliamentary committee together on June 9.

Jaffer faced a grilling from MPs on the government operations committee last month when he denied allegations of unregistered lobbying. MPs on the committee decided to call him back for more questioning after Toronto businessman Nazim Gillani's testimony appeared to contradict Jaffer's claim that he had no contract to lobby on behalf of Gillani's company.

Guergis resigned from cabinet and was kicked out of the Conservative caucus last month after Prime Minister Stephen Harper learned of "serious and credible" allegations about her conduct. She has denied any wrongdoing and says she will co-operate with any investigation.