Thank you, Chair.
I hear Mr. Lukiwski clearly, but I would be more impressed if the government members hadn't just voted down my amendment that would have closed the loophole and this hitch in parallels to say that a former deputy leader or interim leader of the party in opposition, when it was opposition, who's now working to give strategic advice to a law firm in order....
It's interesting too, given the parallel you're describing, that if you go to the website of that law firm it celebrates the joining of the firm of this former deputy leader and interim leader of the opposition party, when he was in opposition--and I'm paraphrasing, but this is exactly the impact of it--and the value he will be to their clients because of his extensive network of connections with government. So that's the type of loophole my amendment would have truly closed.
I accept what you say about this case, but it would have more force if it were combined with closing the other loopholes that are much more serious than this. I also simply repeat my discomfort with someone who volunteered for two and a half weeks and is then at threat of losing their livelihood through this type of retroactive application. I'll use the normal meaning of the word “retroactive” in that.
There's something fundamentally unfair about that in a very large way. It's a small period of time and has a major consequence. So I remain uneasy about the unfairness of that.