Right. We do have additional copies. I had been advised earlier that the best way to do it is to explain it verbally and then hand out copies. I don't know whether we can make additional copies, but Chair, I'll ask your direction on this. Even though proposed new section 351.2, the one I'm going to be introducing, is consequential in many respects to amendments G-22 and G-24, did you want to deal with G-22 first?
I'll tell you what it's about. Let me explain it; it might help.
We could probably deal with amendments G-22 and G-24 at the same time. These are dealing with third parties. Concerning amendment G-24 specifically, you may recall that in his 2010 report the Chief Electoral Officer recommended that amendments be made to the Canada Elections Act to ensure that third parties have a connection to Canada. This bill requires third parties to certify that they have a connection to Canada. To ensure that illegitimate third parties cannot skirt the rules, it's important to have a clear prohibition in the act. Amendment G-22 is consequential to G-24.
So that's what we're dealing with in the case of those two.
Now, the additional amendment, which I'm going to read to you and then hand out.... It's proposed new section 351.2, and I want to ask the officials of the Privy Council their opinion. We say:
For greater certainty for the purposes of subsections 350(1), (4), and section 351.1, if election advertising is transmitted during an election period, it shall be considered advertising expenses, regardless of when it was incurred.
In other words, we're saying that third parties should have a cap of $500 during an election period, but if any ads were produced prior to an election itself—say, for example, if a television ad was produced six months prior to a writ and cost $10,000 but only aired during the election—the production costs should be considered an election expense.
It would be the same thing if—I don't know whether you can actually do this—someone wanted to prepay election ads before the election. Clearly it's an election expense, at least in our....
That is what this amendment introducing a new section 351.2 is about. I don't know whether we can get the staff to make copies and hand it out, but that's what it's—