Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Monsieur Mayrand, for appearing here. I have a number of questions, but obviously I'll try to focus on one and perhaps get to the other ones on subsequent rounds.
First, Monsieur Mayrand, I know you are probably somewhat reticent about offering opinions because of your position. However, since you quite correctly would be considered somewhat of an expert analyst or someone who has dealt with these questions many times before, I would appreciate it if we could get some opinions from you--and again, whether that's viewed as your recommendation is something this committee can consider--particularly on committees themselves, referendum committees and funding of those committees.
Here's what the first question should be about, because you've raised a couple of options here, one being that the committee could decide or the act could determine that having no committees at all is an option, and that the messaging for the positions either for or against a particular question could be handled through the existing political system or through other methods without necessarily needing to have committees involved. What is your opinion on that? Are you a pro-committee or an anti-committee sort of guy? I have my own thoughts on this, but I'd like to hear what you have to say.