Thank you.
First of all, the offices were together, and they were separated after a court case found institutional bias happening between the two offices because the same individual on charge was found to be responsible for both the Conflict of Interest Act and the code of conduct for lobbyists. As a result, they were separated.
I think the two acts deal with very different groups in terms of what they're looking at. On the Lobbying Act side, about 300 people, from public office holders to lobbyists, are actually subject to the act, but that said, there is overlap in some things. Where the two universes overlap—with members of Parliament, for example, or ministers—there could perhaps be some synergies in having MOUs in place that would allow for joint interpretation bulletins, for example, and possibly concurrent investigations, without joining the two offices. I could see synergies in that universe.
I think, as my colleague said with regard to joining access to information with privacy, that aside from that comment on institutional bias, you lose two very strong advocates for both sides of the legislation. When you're thinking about Canadians having confidence in the integrity of government decision-making, the more advocates there are who are ensuring these things, the better.