Sure. First of all, I think it's important to understand that in Ontario a benefit is also considered a gift. I certainly have the same concern Commissioner Dawson has. There's a serious misconception of the gift rules in Ontario. The rule in Ontario is that a gift valued at $200 must be reported. However, a lot of members have the misconception that as long as it's under $200, it's fine, and that is not the case. The case is that you must determine whether it's appropriate, and what is appropriate under the Ontario legislation is custom, protocol, social obligation—that's usually fine. I often say to members, you have to ask yourself who's giving it to you and why. What did you do for it? It has been difficult to get through to members that the only magic of $200 is reporting.
I'm not against the $30 rule. My concern would be more that it's possible that if it was reduced to $30, members would be a little more cognizant of what's appropriate and what isn't, because maybe it's going to be on the front page of the paper. Certainly in Ontario any gifts over $200 disclosed to me go on the member's public disclosure statement each year.
If you lower it to $30, you're going to cover a lot more territory, so maybe they would give it more consideration before they accepted it.