Q. A staff member in one of our projects has joined this working group of government and civil society leaders: https://open.canada.ca/en/multi-stakeholder-forum-open-government. The staff members is not currently an in-house lobbyist.

My understanding is that the group was initially initiated by civil society, but is now jointly administered by government. GoC hosts the website. Membership, terms, and minutes are public. Topics include but are not limited to policy, “with a focus on the development, implementation and assessment of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan.”

Can you confirm my interpretation that this standing working group, administered with government, and transparent to the public, does not meet the definition of lobbying?

A. Based on the information provided, participation in the multi-stakeholder Forum on Open Government meets the disclosure requirements related to the advisory and advisory and stakeholder consultations; therefore, MakeWay Charitable Society is not required to amend their current registration with this information.