There are a number of important measures that are included in the bill to strengthen enforcement of compliance on the part of the commissioner of Canada elections, and this is also a response to the recommendations that she herself made in 2022.
There are a couple of examples I can point to at the moment. If she is conducting an administrative investigation, she cannot compel an individual to co-operate with her investigators by attending an interview, providing information or producing documents. If they don't co-operate, she must go to court, which, of course, is more onerous and is an inefficient way of dealing, as swiftly as possible, with the enforcement of the act. Therefore, we are proposing new authorities for the commissioner that are very much in line with authorities that are available to similarly placed commissioners.
With respect to the administrative monetary penalty, we are proposing to increase it. At the moment, the maximum penalty for individuals is $1,000, and that would go up to $25,000 and, for entities, the current maximum is $5,000, and it would go up to $100,000. Of course, the objective there is a deterrent effect, and it would be more in line with some of the regimes that we find in some provinces.