Lobbyists bending councillors’ ears on the casino issue include the brother of Councillor Frances Nunziata, a pro-casino member of the Mayor Rob Ford administration.

John Nunziata, a partner in The Parliamentary Group lobbyist firm, is registered to lobby 18 councillors — none of them his sister — and three city staff on “whether or not to locate a new casino in Toronto and the location of the casino.”

The former Liberal MP said he registered in his capacity as lawyer for the Toronto office of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association.

The association is awaiting results of a study it commissioned before taking a formal stand on a Toronto casino, he said. Association officials are telling councillors they want more convention space and tourists, but oppose a resort that would cannibalize neighbouring businesses.

Nunziata said he personally opposes a casino but “I’m an advocate for my client.”

Frances Nunziata, the council speaker and a staunch Ford ally, spoke in support of a Toronto casino on the mayor’s radio show in January. “It’s crazy for us not to generate that much-needed revenue” for the city, she said.

Asked in an interview Thursday about a proposed ban on nighttime communication between lobbyists and municipal politicians, Nunziata said her brother never lobbies her.

When he makes a deputation to a committee, she declares a potential conflict of interest and leaves the room, she said.

The Star was unable to reach Councillor Nunziata later Thursday to ask about the casino issue.

But John Nunziata said both he and his sister spoke to city integrity commissioner Janet Leiper about the matter. Leiper gave Councillor Nunziata an opinion suggesting she can deliberate on the casino question if her brother doesn’t make a deputation on it, he said, adding he will ask Leiper for some clarification.

Intense pressure on both sides of the casino debate has put renewed focus on lobbyists and connections between the city’s power brokers.

The chair of Metrolinx, the provincial transportation agency, and another Metrolinx board member are both registered with the province as lobbyists for the MGM Resorts-Cadillac Fairview casino pitch and are recusing themselves from any of the agency’s casino discussions.

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The city’s lobbyist registrar, Linda Gehrke, is proposing a ban on nighttime communication between lobbyists and municipal politicians that would apparently still allow social conversations.

That proposal comes five months after the Star revealed that Councillor Ana Bailão socialized with casino lobbyist Jamie Besner in the hours before she was arrested for driving over the legal alcohol limit. Both Bailão and Besner said they did not discuss the casino issue.