Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and my thanks to Ms. Shepherd and Mr. Bergen for being here.
One of the reasons we are here today is that the government had the foresight to bring in a number of pieces of legislation to provide better accountability and transparency through the Conflict of Interest Act and the Lobbying Act and the subsequent codes that are there. Five years later, it is appropriate for us to be here reviewing this and getting expert testimony, not only from you and other commissioners but from other witnesses who are in the trenches day in and day out. They are asking for the same thing: they want to know what the specific rules are. They're not interested in breaching rules. They want to know what the clear rules are.
One of the things we have said is that lobbying and interaction with members of Parliament, cabinet ministers, and other public office holders is a proper part of the job we all do here. Whether it's the constituent who calls about a mailbox or whether it is a lobbyist for a major company that does a significant amount of business in my riding, for them to have interaction with me, as a member of Parliament, is a legitimate part of their job. It's also a legitimate part of my job to listen to what the issues are and to what they have to say.
One of the concerns I have is there seems to be a disconnect between the two pieces of legislation and between the two commissioners' offices. It's not because you folks aren't doing your jobs. You are interpreting your different acts the way they are, but it would be better for everyone if we had one set of clear rules, clear definitions.
What are some of the specific things that we could do to have your office and the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and the two pieces of legislation do a better job of speaking the same language to the same people? You've mentioned a few of the differences, whether we call it “designated public office holder” in one act or a “reporting public office holder” in another act. Do you have any specific recommendations on how we can get these two pieces of legislation to say the same thing, generally, to all the people to whom they apply?