Thank you very much.
Thank you to both of our witnesses for being here today, and thank you for your service to Canada.
Since I'm a Saskatchewan boy, I'm going to concentrate all my remarks on Mr. Boda.
Specifically, in your opening comments you mentioned that the voter turnout in Saskatchewan in the most recent election was 52%, which compares favourably to the previous election in 2016, when the voter turnout was 54%. Due to the fact that we were voting in the midst of a pandemic, I suppose that 2% decline in voter turnout was actually a good thing.
However, frankly, I'm extremely concerned, and have been for many years, about the steady decline in voter turnout across Canada. Perhaps I have the benefit of the wisdom of my years in that I can remember back to elections 30, 40 or perhaps even 50 years ago, when it was not uncommon to see election turnout, whether provincially or federally, at 70% or higher.
Particularly in light of the unprecedented number of voters apparently turning out for the U.S. election, what steps do you think could be taken to increase voter turnout, generally speaking? I recognize that it's not the primary mandate of your office to be concerned about voter turnout, but certainly you would have a role to play.
What do you think could be and perhaps should be done in the future to try to increase the level of voter turnout in our province?