Let me address the role of the networks and the notion of it being a condition of licence. The experience we have from the last two elections is that it makes a big difference in terms of audience whether the major broadcast networks are involved or not. I can't repeat everything I've ever heard internally when I was working in broadcasting, but I know that the networks' participation is very much hinged on considerations that have nothing to do with the public interest or the voters' interest.
It's clear to me that when the major networks are all involved, it creates a critical mass of voters and a larger audience. A few hours once every four years is not a particularly onerous requirement. For sure, there will be losses. At the meeting organized by the IRPP, we heard some of those concerns from the networks, but those really don't concern me that much.
In terms of the leaders showing up, we have seen in other jurisdictions where leaders have skipped these that it's a question of expecting the leaders to show up for work. The voters have a right to access. As I said, I'm not trying to suggest that there's something wrong with advertising or wrong with journalism, but they provide a certain access for voters that's limited. The leaders' debates provide a different kind of access that's valuable to the voters.