OTTAWA - If Rahim Jaffer thought he was persona non grata with Conservatives, he should hear what lobbyists around Parliament Hill are saying about him.
Government relations professionals, as they're also called, are feeling stung by the allegations of illegal lobbying against the former MP and his business partner Patrick Glemaud.
Lobbyists worry the controversy has unjustly sullied their trade and are hoping it doesn't result in more regulation. Rumours are rampant that the Conservatives are examining changes to the Lobbyist Act.
"Is he giving our industry a bad name? Absolutely," says Charles King, president of the Government Relations Institute of Canada.
"I think a lot of our members feel it is unfair that we're being labelled in the same light as Mr. Jaffer. All of our members do everything by the book: they register, they conduct themselves accordingly."
King also pointed out that the institute has its own code of conduct, over and above federal lobbying rules.
Jaffer and Glemaud have insisted they followed the letter of the Lobbying Act, and are waiting for the ruling of the lobbying commissioner on a number of matters.
The pair had approached at least three government departments through their company Green Power Generation.
On Monday, Environment Minister Jim Prentice confirmed that his director of regional affairs met last year with Jaffer in the offices of Jaffer's wife, the former minister of state for the Status of Women. Prentice has referred the matter to the lobbying commissioner.
In another case, Jaffer and Glemaud submitted executive summaries of three renewable energy projects to the office of the parliamentary secretary to Infrastructure Minister John Baird.
They said their activities did not constitute lobbying, but rather information gathering about the government's complex new Green Infrastructure Fund. The Lobbying Act says seeking information does not constitute lobbying.
That explanation didn't sit well with one former lobbyist, who found it unusual that Glemaud and Jaffer would have gone to political staff to get information rather than the bureaucrats who run the programs.
"You would obviously not get very good information at that level, what you would get is political atmospherics," said the former lobbyist.
Several lobbyists say they simply can't figure out why Jaffer and Glemaud would have taken any chances.
"I'm just saying that registering as a lobbyist and reporting on your various lobbying activities is a cost-free exercise for the lobbyist, and (they) take away the possibility that you can ever be accused of doing something under the table or without the necessary public scrutiny," said Geoff Norquay, a Conservative and lobbyist with Earnscliffe Strategy Group.
"I just don't understand if you're engaged in those activities, why you wouldn't register - not only because it's the law but also to cover yourself."
Fellow Ottawa lobbyist and communications specialist Gord McIntosh says he was once doing unpaid work for a foundation but registered anyway because there had been a single exchange of cash in the past.
"Let's face it, you're wise to err on the side of caution," McIntosh said.
Said King: "Especially Mr. Jaffer, who was a member of Parliament and part of the government when they drafted the Federal Accountability Act, this is to me a no-brainer. It takes five minutes, go register."
Another senior Ottawa lobbyist, who asked not to be named, sees problems with the act.
The lobbyist points out that many lawyers around Ottawa have access to public office holders, including cabinet ministers, but do not have to register as lobbyists. Other consultants who sell "strategic advice" to big corporations about dealing with the federal government can also claim not to be lobbyists.
"Well, how did you get that advice? You picked up the phone, and you spoke to someone who gave you the information, and then you transferred it back to the client," said the lobbyist. "You didn't make a representation on behalf of the client, but you're splitting hairs."
The Commons government operations committee is scheduled to hear from a former business associate of Jaffer's, Nazim Gillani, on Wednesday.
Gillani is expected to tell the committee that he believed Jaffer could provide government relations services to him as they discussed working together on a renewable energy project.
