Senator, thank you. It's nice to see you again. It's been ages.
We mentioned earlier—I think it came from this side—the burden on the volunteer sector when it comes to the work they have to do. I'd like to relay a story about what I see in my neck of the woods—and I won't assume that it's only in my neck of the woods; it's yours too, especially if you're rural.
It's about the burden of paperwork, the burden of regulatory responsibility of volunteers. I would love to see philanthropy day look at issues of philanthropy. This is a big one, because there is so much paperwork to do for many of these people, and they get so frustrated. This is one of the biggest reasons why they stop doing what they're doing. They want to be helping people—there is a direct benefit in getting out there and helping these people—but they don't because of responsibilities from the government.
For instance, you now have to go through a security check, a screening. Now, there is nothing wrong with that. The system has changed such that if your name is similar to someone else's, you have to get certification to be involved with a school, a sporting group, and that sort of thing. If your name is similar to someone who has been convicted, tried, and so on and so forth, then there are problems. But the problem is that we only have one small office here doing it. We were waiting weeks for people in the volunteer sector. Finally they got frustrated and said “Forget it”.
There are people who sit on boards of volunteer organizations. People threaten to sue them. They get in trouble with Revenue Canada. Some of them are on the hook personally. It happens. We've seen it.
All this I think plays into the decrease in time given for organizations that are worthy.
Now, I'm not saying that these regulations are unnecessary, but it would be nice if we had, in conjunction with philanthropy day, the government making a concerted effort to help these people take the burden off them when it comes to regulations and standards.