Thank you for the question. You've given me a number of points to respond to.
I think there are two parts to why this legislation is very important. First of all, grassroots band members across the country have been asking for this. They want to be able to access this information anonymously.
The second part, of course, is that taxpayers would like to see this information too. The stories we've helped uncover over the past few years are not new. They are responses you would see in comments on online stories across the political spectrum, whether it's the CBC, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, Sun News, whatever. The comments on those sites are based on frustration, because for decades taxpayers have heard stories about corruption on reserves and far too often Ottawa has turned a blind eye to it. So many people were pleased to see that legislation was coming forward to finally deal with the situation.
It's not only important that band members be able to have access to this information, but also that taxpayers have access to it, so that when they hear a chief or councillor on TV asking for more money from Ottawa for this, that, or the other reason, they can do a little research on their own and take a look to see what's happening in that community. How are the funds being spent? Is this one of the communities where the chief and council are making more than the Prime Minister of Canada? If it is, I think a lot of taxpayers would say it's a load of baloney to start throwing more money at that community until it cleans up its own act. If it's not, if it's an open and transparent community where the chief and council are busting their butts to deliver really good services for their people, then I think taxpayers living off reserve would have more interest in potentially supporting some kind of additional funding for those communities.
To address your third point about our organization, there is information on our website about remuneration, in terms of how much people make by different pay category. What I would note very loudly and clearly is that we do not receive a cent of government funding. We never have; we never will. In fact, when I indicated that I would accept the invitation to come here to speak, we were offered compensation to pay for my flight, hotel bill, food, etc., and we turned that down. We're one of the few organizations in this country that regularly refuses those offers from the Parliament of Canada.
It is a little different when you're talking about public funds and how public funds are being used. We expect full accountability that way. It's a totally different kettle of fish.