I join with my colleagues in thanking all of you for being here tonight. It means a lot. This is an important piece of Canadian business, and it really matters that you're here. So thank you very much.
If I might, I'll swing over to Mr. Beyene. Sir, we appreciate very much your presentation. I have to say at the outset that I'm very fortunate that I've been to your beautiful country twice. The last time I was there, I was in Addis Ababa, and I was there for the 50th anniversary of the African Union and the grand opening of its new headquarters. It's a beautiful country. In your area of the GTA and surrounding areas in Hamilton, we have a very small Ethiopian community, but very vibrant, and very interested in playing the full citizen role.
My question to you is this, sir. Under the proposed legislation, the Chief Electoral Officer would no longer be responsible for the broader education programs and the broader education of Canadians, not on matters of where you vote and how you vote and the ID, but on what our electoral system is and how it works. They work with communities, different groups in society, and the purpose of course is to allow, in the case of your presentation, those from Ethiopia, for whom Canada is a new country, to participate. The bill restricts the Chief Electoral Officer from doing that, and leaves it to the political parties, who say that they're educating people anyway, and it's in their best interest.
We in the NDP are concerned that this is too narrow a focus. Political parties are all about electing people, and we think the Chief Electoral Officer should continue the work of educating the broader community and working with communities. I just wondered if you would expand on that, on how important it is for your community to have that kind of education as to what our system is and the thinking behind it, and that the Chief Electoral Officer should continue to play the role he's playing, rather than cutting out the Chief Electoral Officer and only relying on political parties.
Just what are your thoughts on that, sir?