I'm wondering if I could try this.
I absolutely agree with the goals you're putting forward. Not only am I a member of the Liberal Party, I'm a member of Equal Voice. But it seems to me that in order to get there in this legislation, if you start broadening the scope and put a $5,000 cap on it, you're restricting everybody's ability to upset the apple cart. If you don't have enough financial resources in a campaign—and this is really reflected in municipal elections, certainly where I come from in Toronto—you can't overturn the status quo very readily with very low spending limits. You need a superstar with a huge profile, or incumbents just keep winning.
In the federal dynamic, we have the party shift. But past candidates I think are going to be favoured, because they're better known, by and large, if you limit the spending too much, or the access to money.
What's more, I see this legislation pretty much as gender neutral. In bringing down the level of access to funds, you equally clip the wings of the women who have financial resources as well as the men. There may be some numeric differences as to how many of them, but at the same time there are women who absolutely have that access who aren't going to be able to make use of it to get there.
And I'm having enough trouble right now recruiting female candidates. I don't need any more barriers.