Thank you.
I believe you have defined the concerns very well, Mr. Garneau. Industry and all of the stakeholders in the business arena share these concerns. Everyone advocates legislative intervention but would like to see a better balance. In our opinion, that balance is mainly related to the matter of consent. In this case, it is much more restrictive. In order not to be penalized in comparison with international businesses in particular, all of the business community would need a much more flexible notion of consent.
In fact, several of our comments converge. We feel that business relationships are in a separate category. When a business decides to release its email address, people should be able to contact it for legitimate commercial purposes. Moreover, the concern with regard to referrals was raised in particular by the IFIC representatives. This reality affects all of industry. We think that amendments allowing businesses to contact clients after a referral would facilitate things greatly.
Finally, the possibility of obtaining consent through electronic means may be the most important factor. When we use a medium, we want to be able to obtain consent through that same medium, i.e. through electronic means. It is very clear that everyone is in favour of a legal intervention and agrees that consent would normally be required, in order to be able to communicate. The way in which that consent is obtained is mostly what needs to be amended in order to attain a good balance.