In the first place I'd like to talk for about 30 seconds about an issue where the federal government has a very significant role to play, and that relates to our environmental heritage, if you'll indulge me in that for one moment.
I started a committee called Campaign Fairness Ontario, and the long and short of it is that we got an act passed in the provincial legislature, called the Campaign Modernization Act. It was actually Bill 181, which made it illegal for corporations and unions to contribute to the campaigns of candidates running for municipal office.
It would be a huge benefit in control of poorly planned growth, a.k.a. urban sprawl, if Ontario followed the same lead, and it would be wonderful if the federal government could encourage them to follow your guidelines in that regard.
One other issue is that the previous administration decided to go after environmental charities, and they chose as their weapon the Canada Revenue Agency, threatening to take away charitable status from groups that were very strong proponents of climate change issues. Many of these groups also deal with our environmental heritage. It was a very callous attack, using advocacy as a weapon, but these groups were not even doing advocacy.
It would be wonderful if your group would look into what the CRA has undertaken on behalf of the previous administration to disenfranchise environmental groups.
Now, turning to my topic, I need a little guidance. Would you like to hear why we think it's important to restore architectural interest in older buildings? Is that a topic of interest to you, or would you rather just hear the challenges that we face?