I don't agree with everything Mr. Conacher says. He and I have different world views, but the one suggestion he has that I think will improve transparency is to give individuals and the public the ability to file a complaint with the commissioner. I think that would improve public confidence in the system, but it has to be more than just writing an angry letter saying, “Will you investigate this MP I didn't vote for?” There has to be a modicum of evidence. There has to be some threshold for why that investigation should happen.
The other thing with those types of powers is for the commissioner to have the ability to say no and give the reasons they're not going to pursue that test. That rationale being in the public domain is going to increase confidence in the system, because someone will be able to make a request and then understand why that request was denied. Then, if they're friends with Mr. Conacher, he can help them sue the government, which he has done on a regular basis, sometimes quite successfully and for the improvement of the laws of Canada. There are some examples that I am happy to talk about. Because of the work Democracy Watch has done, we have better laws in certain areas.
Any decision would be reviewable by a judge based on the reasonableness standard and on whether or not that decision is consistent with the decision-making rules we have.