Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank the witnesses for being with us today.
I have been listening carefully to the discussion for some time now. I have always said that democracy is the power of an informed people. Therefore, it is important that people be aware of what is happening. I am thinking about transparency. Everyone regularly talks about the importance of being transparent.
Do you think that if we make things more formal and ask people to be very transparent about the efforts they're making, it will hinder the democratic process and cause people to reach out to their representative less often?
I just want to make a quick aside. If one of my constituents comes to see me to discuss a problem, they don't view the conversation as official or as part of the eight hours per month; they're just talking to me about an issue, and their life goes on. I'm made aware of it, and I continue to work on their behalf.
When you get to the point of dedicating eight hours a month to official communications—and doing so over a long period—why wouldn't that become something that needs to be monitored? It then becomes a bit like a second job.