On unintended consequences

The CP reports on the latest machinations surrounding the Accountability Act. Most of the changes seem relatively minor: the floor-crossing provision sounds sufficiently watered-down not to have too much effect (though it is news to have the Libs onside), and the NDP's call to combine contribution limits between parents and children doesn't seem likely to have too strong an effect on anybody besides Joe Volpe. But a much larger potential amendment is buried at the bottom of the coverage:

One element of the act requires anybody who lobbies the federal government to file reports every time they meet with public office holders. The Canadian Society of Association Executives has called on the government to exempt charities and non-profits from the requirement.

"We are also concerned that increasing this compliance requirement will prove to be a more onerous, time-consuming burden that will result in a loss of productivity for many not-for-profit organizations currently facing resource constraints," the society said in its submission to the Commons committee.

On the surface, this would seem to be a reasonable suggestion - and certainly it's tough for any party to be seen taking a stand against non-profits and charities.

The only problem is the small matter of what would happen if such a rule were to pass. It's not hard to see that the exemption of charities and non-profits from lobbying rules would offer a ready opening for astroturf groups to lobby on behalf of anybody based on a single step worth of separation. Not only would that utterly undermine the purpose of imposing greater transparency on lobbyists, but it could also easily result in the newly-formed astroturf groups using their organizational resources to shape the political playing field when they're not busy lobbying.

The article doesn't indicate which parties (if any) are looking to include the exemption. But hopefully enough MPs will recognize the dangers behind the seemingly innocuous suggestion, and ensure that an act which is supposed to improve transparency doesn't instead spur the promulgation of artificial interest groups.