Of course, Madam Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity and thank you, Mr. Blaikie, for raising obviously a critical issue: the idea of consulting Canadians on ways to improve our democracy and ways to improve the participation of Canadians. It's something we should be constantly focused on.
I can imagine the context of COVID presents, in and of itself, something that we need to be very aware of.
I don't propose, Madam Chair, to have a view on the agenda of your committee and how you choose to organize your meetings. Your committee properly has the mandate to look at issues around elections, the Canada Elections Act and voting, and I would certainly see that as a very appropriate forum to begin this conversation should your committee take up Mr. Blaikie's motion.
Obviously, as the minister responsible for Elections Canada, but with the help of Privy Council officials, I would be happy to provide any information we might have that would be useful should your committee decide to take up that issue. In terms of what might be in future spending estimates, we'll let the Minister of Finance and the President of the Treasury Board work on those.
I want to conclude, Madam Chair, by saluting Mr. Blaikie's service in Parliament. Daniel, I was a fan of your father's service as a long-standing member of Parliament. There is a small group of us: you would be in the group, and I might be. The Prime Minister himself is. Geoff Regan is. We are lucky enough to serve in an institution where our parents served. I remember fondly your father's service, and it is particularly a pleasure for me to see you at the committee this morning. I haven't had a chance to see you in the House of Commons, because we don't tend to cross over the aisle and talk to colleagues in a cheerful way as we might do if we sat near one another at a desk, but it is a privilege for me to see you here this morning and also to see you serving in the House of Commons.