Thank you, Mr. Chair. I really have two concerns. The effect of this amendment is to raise the individual limitation from $1,000 to $2,000. Given the realities of the need to raise funds by political parties in order to properly fulfill their functions and the right of individual citizens to partake in political activity, including joining and contributing to political parties, $1,000 is simply unrealistically low and $2,000 would be more realistic. It also would provide that the costs of attending leadership conventions or other party and policy conventions would not be included in that amount.
Mr. Chair, everyone will recall that Bill C-24 was a very dramatic change in the political financing rules and culture of this country two or three years ago, and we're all clearly going in the same direction on this. However, the $1,000 limit seems low. It might be interesting to get some technical legal advice on this with respect to whether a $1,000 limit would be a breach of the charter, in breaching someone's personal rights.