You make a good point, and I touched on this in the opening. Originally, the design of the system was that both sides report independently. Therefore, the commissioner's office simply reconciles the meetings, and if you get half of a meeting reported, then you know where to go and pick up the phone and find out what happened. Without both sides reporting—I was just speculating, and maybe the commissioner has spoken to this—the commissioner's office then has to tell them there is a potential problem or an unreported meeting. That's a whole different process, and it is very random. I think it would be much more effective to look at the original model.
Then, the other thing you want to look at is why that was left on the cutting room floor. I didn't look at the transcript of the testimony, but if you go back to Bill C-2, there must have been some pretty persuasive discussions at committee for the committee to say “Let's not include the bureaucratic or political side. Let's just put the onus on the lobbyist.” That's fine, but I think it's less efficient in terms of enforcement, because you don't have a way to flag when there is an issue every month, which you would have if both sides had to report.
Incidentally, as MPs, as designated public office holders, you have certain responsibilities under the act as well. You don't have to report your meetings, but you have to keep a record of your meetings and make that information available to the commissioner if you are asked. I don't know whether that presents any problems in your constituency work, but you are being dragged into this framework, either knowingly or not.
On a separate point, I do a lot of work with defeated MPs as a volunteer through the parliamentary association. Most MPs don't realize they are now covered by the five-year ban. When you leave politics, as a designated public office holder, you are now banned for five years from engaging in any registerable activities. Is that a hammer kill on a flea? I don't know. You may want to look at that.