Thank you for that question.
I kind of compare this to the treaty-making process more than 100 years ago. They designated $4 in that treaty. That was supposed to cover a big bag of flour, a big bag of sugar and other things that people needed on the lands. If you compare that to what it's valued at today, it would be an amount that would cover all those staples.
I appreciate Mr. Green's question, because you never know what the activity is going to be or what part of the country it's going to be in. Look at the cost of food. If you're having an event in northern Ontario or even in Nunavut, the cost of food is approaching $20 for milk. How is that going to fit into your standard for the value of a meal for having an event?
I think that it's more reasonable to say that there's a value of a meal and this is approximately what it is. It says “reasonable” right now, and that makes a lot of sense, and everybody can be left to justify that the meal covers the value of that event.
I would much prefer to be able to offer a gift of moccasins or something to a dignitary who's coming to our area, and the value of those have gone up exponentially because they are hard to come by.
I think we need to maintain some sort of reasonableness and common sense when we're thinking about this. Indigenous people don't generally put their names in the lobbyist registry, but there are going to be more like me who will be lobbying because it's essentially a funnel. More are trying to fit into a smaller area and get those meetings with certain individuals.
Thank you.