Thank you.
I think that's where you're seeing a lot of these questions coming up, because there's some confusion. When I was doing my MBA, every time I would ask my corporate finance teacher a question, he would say, “Well, it depends.” That's kind of what we're hearing from you: based on a specific case, it depends as to whether or not a gift is acceptable or if there is an actual conflict of interest.
In recommendation one, you are suggesting that the value of a gift under $30 not be declared. In terms of pratico-pratique, I don't know about other MPs, but I often get unsolicited gifts sent to me. For instance, on January 25, I received a book from somebody. I don't know the person at all, but they signed a book and sent it to me. When I flipped it over, I saw that it's valued at $28.
According to the code, if I get past $200 from the specific individual in any given year, that is when I have to declare it within 60 days. However, because it was January 25 when I received this book, I don't know if I'm going to get something else from this person. In terms of the tracking all of this, there is no tool currently, other than our own individual offices tracking the gifts we're receiving and logging them, to be able to determine whether or not the person has passed that threshold of $200. Currently what I do is that every month I send this to your office; I'm a frequent flyer. They always write me back thanking me.
Because it is very labour intensive, is there a plan to have a tool in place for members of Parliament to be able to do this declaration right away so that this way it's being calculated on your end? Subsequent to that, in terms of training, I agree that training is helpful, but given the labour intensity of tracking and logging all of this information, would it be possible to also perhaps think of training for staff members who are supporting us so that they can also assist in this regard?