Actually, I'll take it.
Mr. Casey, I do want to bring up something with you. I think your point is really good. You drew that to my attention and showed me where the Chief Electoral Officer had in the 2000 election complained about this, and he apparently did so in the 1993 election.
It strikes me that this must be part of the effort that was made—I guess it goes back to the 1980s—to basically shut out third parties. Mr. Figueroa, the head of the Communist Party, fought a courageous battle to get rid of the restrictions that made it hard for very small parties to compete in elections. I gather that the same effort has not yet occurred on behalf of independence. I think you're right. I suspect that this restriction is probably a violation of section 3 of the charter, which states not only that each person has a right to vote, but that everyone is qualified for membership in the House of Commons or our provincial legislature. “Qualified” has to mean something substantive, not that you can run a non-competitive campaign.
Thanks for drawing that to our attention.