Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
I read your brief this morning. You make a comment about the global trends in lobbying regulation, and I quote:
Canada’s lobbying legislation, Political Financing Laws and Conflict of Interest Rules are clear and stronger than most other G-8 countries. The Commissioner of Lobbying affirmed this view on December 13th when she appeared before the committee. The Commissioner noted that Canada’s rules were strong, even compared to the US.
In light of this statement, would you say we've gone overboard, that because of those strong laws your opportunity to access government for the purpose of lobbying for various issues is encumbered?