Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For the benefit of the committee, I am wearing more than just a T-shirt. I certainly didn't expect when getting on an airplane yesterday that my outfit would be something that would possibly be referenced in parliamentary proceedings.
Thank you, Commissioner, for joining us here today. Virtually everybody I speak with would agree that we need to have a regime that ensures that there is not undue influence exercised by those who would attempt to manipulate officials, politicians and the like to their benefit.
I went through some recent news stories, including some very public examples, in which there were people who were involved in government contracts, people who work in consultancy fees and a whole host of others. As I was searching through the lobbyist registry, those individuals' names were not on it. They don't fall into being registered lobbyists, yet it's quite clear.... As an example, both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister referenced very clearly how a particular individual who's been in the news—Mr. Barton—was recruited because of his contact list.
I'm curious if you could outline how that right balance is found, because when I searched through the list, these names were not found on it.