It is obvious that there are ceilings in the act. However, the culture in some political parties can lead to—and this is the case for the Bloc Québécois—a maximum that is lower than the amount provided for in the act. Party democracy, and what we are proposing, dictates that we can have rules to reduce these limits and provide for a greater equality of opportunity.
I would like to come back to the application of proposed subsection 405.7. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the candidates, but when it comes to nominations or leadership races, apart from a certain number of minimum rules, anyone can be a leadership candidate or run for a nomination in a riding.
We object to having the association become a guarantor for all of the candidates, with the loans to candidates being limited to the maximum amounts that are set by the parties. It makes no sense for the association, which has no control over the amount that the candidate spends, or what the candidate does with the money, or any efforts made to secure funding for members, becomes, after 18 or 36 months, the guarantor of these loans.