Yes, I think that the Lobbying Act right now fills the purpose that Parliament, the House of Commons and the Senate intended it to, but as I said earlier, there's always an issue in terms of interpretation of the Lobbying Act, which is the role of the commissioner.
From my previous experience, I find that the parliamentary oversight on the interpretations isn't fully understood, so interpretations can happen that really impact the profession day to day without any recourse from this committee, from the House of Commons or from our elected body here in Canada.
That's always been a concern. One area in which the Lobbying Act could be improved is the five-year lobby ban. Looking internationally, what do other countries have as a lobbying ban? You're a designated public office holder, and you want to get into lobbying. How much time do you have as a cool-off period?
In Canada, it's five years. The average internationally is much lower than that. If you take an average of all our OECD or G7 partners, you're looking at four years. We're one year above. That's why I said in my testimony that we have one of the most onerous lobbying acts in the world. What I've seen in my career is that it really prevents a lot of young individuals from getting into lobbying or even from getting into a minister's office or into some designated public office position.