Ontario's governing Liberals are promising to ban public dollars from being spent on lobbyists amid new revelations that universities and colleges - not just hospitals - have been hiring them on the taxpayer's dime.
Health Minister Deb Matthews rushed to make the announcement Tuesday as opposition parties sharpened their attacks over lobbyists.
Ms. Matthews promised to introduce a bill within the next few weeks that will "ban the practice of using taxpayer dollars to lobby for more taxpayer dollars," but details were scant.
She wouldn't say whether the ban would apply just to hospitals, or all institutions that receive public money.
"We are working on the details, so stay tuned," she said.
"But the principle is clear that organizations that receive money for front-line service - be it hospitals or universities or other organizations - should use the money to provide that service, not to lobby government for more money."
Currently, all lobbyists are required to register with the province. The bill will amend the law to prohibit hospitals and other institutions from registering lobbyists, government sources said. It will also ban institutions from using taxpayer money on consultant lobbyists.
The government insists the move towards greater transparency has been in the works for some time.
The auditor-general is slated to deliver a report on the use of consultants by hospitals and the province's local health integration networks, which have also come under opposition fire for spending on consultants.
But opposition parties say the Liberals took action only after their hands were caught in the cookie jar.
Many of the lucrative consulting contracts handed out by hospitals, universities and colleges were doled out to Liberal-friendly firms, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
"The government for seven years now has been happy to watch their friends in these lobbyist firms line their pockets with taxpayer dollars, so it's about time that they put a stop to it," she said.
After disclosing that 14 hospitals have hired lobbyists, the party revealed Tuesday that nine colleges and universities have spent nearly $1-million on lobbyists and consultants to influence the government.
They include Laurentian University, which had a contract worth $102,000, and Toronto's York University, which had three contracts totalling close to $500,000, according to documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws.
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology also has a lobbyist contract worth up to $130,000 with Mossop Media, run by former journalist and Liberal MPP Jennifer Mossop.
At the same time, student debt is piling up and Ontario's undergraduate tuition fees are the highest in the country, Ms. Horwath said.
"It's like cramming before the exam," she said.
"The government is rushing to put something forward to stem the criticism, and that's fine. It's about time that they did put something forward."
Colleges and Universities Minister John Milloy said the schools have no reason to hire lobbyists because the ministry is always available to take their call.
"It's unacceptable that they're spending public money on lobbyists," he said. "There's no need to; we have a very good relationship both at the political level and also through ministry staff."
The government should have moved sooner to curb lobbying by hospitals and universities, said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.
"Why didn't the Premier and his ministers, when the lobbyists came in holding the hands of a hospital board or a university, just simply say no?" he said. "Instead they opened their doors for Liberal-friendly consultants."
Ms. Horwath said she hopes the ban won't push lobbying underground, with unregistered hired guns trying to influence the government.
Her party has already raised the issue of illegal lobbying with Ontario's privacy commissioner and asked for a probe into whether it played a role in the government's decision to allow mixed martial arts in the province.
But the process is confidential under current legislation, which means neither the complainant nor the public would be notified if any action was taken.