Through you, Mr. Chair, I thank the member for the comments and the question. I do have a strong appreciation for the arguments made by the member.
To provide an example, last March we cooperated with the Public Policy Forum to conduct a dialogue on youth civic engagement. Part of what we heard from young people was that they needed a better understanding of the reasons for voter registration and of the basic methodology of how to register to vote. That was a very strong message we took in recognizing there was a clear thread between two of the three priorities for the inter-election period for Elections NWT, improving civic engagement, particularly youth civic engagement, and improving the quality of our register of territorial electors, which produces the voters list, and that there was action we could take to act on that. That's an illustration of the strength of my appreciation for the argument just made by the member.
Perhaps I can say two things. One is that I think, in terms of reporting back, there's always value in agencies of Parliament reporting back to the legislature in terms of their effectiveness of how they spend taxpayer dollars. One of the difficulties, of course, with voter turnout is that there are numerous variables that affect turnout and so it's difficult to say, in a causal fashion, that one form of advertising may have been more effective than the other, although there have been suggestions about how randomized experiments and using different methods of advertising in different electoral districts can help discern between those.
Finally, I would say, with respect, that I think recognizing there's a need to improve the how, when, and why of voting doesn't necessarily negate the importance of having the Chief Electoral Officer also communicate the importance of voting generally. The two are not mutually exclusive, and I think both are very important to communicate to electors.