The Globe and Mail, Jennifer lewington, 10/4/2008

Toronto's new lobbyist registry is working well despite a "little bit of a breaking-in period," Mayor David Miller said yesterday, as some councillors argued for an early review of the office.

His comments came one day after lobbyist registrar Marilyn Abraham announced she is leaving her post early, after only 14 months on the job and two months after the launch of a mandatory system to record who talks to whom at city hall.

"She has done a commendable job in establishing the first lobbyist registry for a city in this country," Mr. Miller said.

Early next month, Ms. Abraham expects to report to council's executive committee on "tweaking" to simplify rules on planning applications, grassroots lobbying and enforcement.

But several councillors, both allies and critics of the mayor, want to rethink a registry they charge is too complex.

"It's stymieing councillors from being able to do their job," said councillor and council Speaker Sandra Bussin (Beaches-East York), adding "we have to look at it [the bylaw] again."

She cites a recent incident in which she delayed meeting a constituent because she was unsure whether he should sign in as a lobbyist. She later learned an information meeting would not run afoul of the registry.

Ms. Bussin has an ally in Councillor Karen Stintz (Eglinton-Lawrence), who said, "what we have ended up adopting was an extremely cumbersome system that was not easy to use or navigate."

Others see no problems.

"I'm extremely disappointed in my colleagues," said Shelley Carroll (Don Valley East), who praised Ms. Abraham as a "city hero" for her work in launching the registry.

Councillor Adrian Heaps (Scarborough Southwest), who supports the registry, urged patience. "The first year will be a learning experience and after that we should look at what is working and not working," he said.