It further encourages the critical eye of the public, journalists and ministers themselves who may not know who they are dealing with. As a politician, you meet people from all walks of life in your riding. I think a registry can inject a level of transparency into who is working for foreign interests. Do these people make contributions? Are they working on political campaigns?
I think transparency is good for the system as a whole. To a large extent, the Canada Elections Act regime is built on that transparency, the transparency of contributions. There are very strict rules on fundraising, including meet-and-greets with ministers, to ensure transparency.
In my opinion, that's part of the same type of remedy, and I think it's a good thing.