N.W.T. gov't's lack of detail on ministers' meetings may backfire: experts

Political observers say an N.W.T. government report on meetings between ministers and outside parties could do the government more harm than good — at least in its current form.

The report, posted last week on the government's website, lists who (though often not the specific person) each minister has met with, plus when the meeting took place.

But it omits what experts say are crucial details, such as what was discussed and who requested the meeting, and it doesn't cover deputy ministers and other public servants.

Ian Greene, a retired professor with York University's School of Public Policy and Administration, says that approach, while better than nothing, still leaves the government open to criticism.

"The whole purpose of the lobbyist registry approach is to clarify things, to stop the rumour mill," he says.

"It protects them from false accusations. And this report, because it provides so little information, I think it can add to the rumour mill."

Greene cites Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger's June 2 meeting with Dominion Diamond Corporation as an example. Dominion's plan to expand the Ekati diamond mine is currently under environmental assessment, and Miltenberger will play a key role in whether that project moves forward.

Because the log entry for that meeting does not cite what was talked about, "I think people may jump to the conclusion that the topic of discussion was whether the minister was going to sign off on the environmental assessment," says Greene.

Dominion Diamond did not respond to a request for information about that meeting.

No oversight of report

Guy Giorno, an Ottawa-based lawyer with an emphasis on accountability and ethics laws, says the lack of independent oversight over the report is also troubling.

"Almost always, lobbyist registries are administered and supervised by an impartial official or registrar who is, at arms-length, reporting directly to the legislature," he says.

"Here...you've got the cabinet ministers themselves being accountable to no one, deciding what and how much information about their meetings they'll disclose. That certainly falls short of the independence that would be offered by a lobbyist registry under autonomous oversight."

The territorial government, which could not be reached for comment, has said it's not opposed to exploring the idea of launching a registry — just not during the rest of this government's term.

Robert Shepherd, a Carleton University assistant professor who is co-authoring a book with Greene about lobbyist registries, says resistance to registries is normal among elected politicians.

"They think it's a slight against them," says Shepherd. "They think, 'Don't people trust me to do the right thing?' 

"What they need to realize is that that isn't completely beside the point. We trust our elected politicians to a point, but we want to know, in those off-times between elections, what is going on behind closed doors."