Thank you.
You're the second one to raise this issue of not just ministers and decision-makers but also their staff being there. As a former Ontario cabinet minister, I can tell you that the influence of the chief of staff and the senior policy people you mentioned is huge.
Most ministers are not experts in every area that they're making decisions on, and they rely on advice: professional advice, technical advice, and political advice. At the end of the day, often the last meeting you have is with your own personal staff as you're making a final determination. I just wonder if there were any other titles or anything else that you want to expand on, because the question has come up before—and it's a legitimate issue, I think—as to whether t you can have effective lobbying by only meeting with the minister.
I would say, in terms of the impact of meeting directly with the minister versus with the staffer, that you might even get more attention out of the staffer, because most politicians are thinking 16 different things at once, especially if they're at an event and looking here and there, whereas the staffer tends to be more focused. I think it's a really important area that's being overlooked, and any further expansion of your thoughts would be helpful, sir.