Here is what we have understood on the thinking behind Ms. Dawson's proposal to reduce the amount for mandatory reporting. Officially, according to the current code, members are supposed to report all gifts they receive, no matter their value. According to what is written here, it is only when the value is $500 or more that we are required to do so.
Normally, even if the amount is less than $500, we have to report it if there's the possibility of a conflict of interest or undue influence. I do agree with you that having that obligation for too low an amount can be problematic. In fact, as has already been mentioned, it is possible to not know the value of a gift and to not have had the opportunity to know.
However, I think it is possible to reduce this amount to maintain a sort of balance. For the general public, a $500 gift is a lot. Personally, as a member of Parliament, I would not be very comfortable with receiving a $400 or $500 gift and not having to report it. In any case, we don't necessarily have to decide that we have to refuse it. We would just have to report that we received a gift and ensure that the person responsible for conflicts of interest is aware and can verify that it is acceptable.
Do you have an idea of what could constitute a reasonable and balanced limit? The idea is not necessarily to report something that is worth $5, $10 or even $50, but I think that $500 is rather high.