Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to everyone for coming out this nice afternoon and sharing all your wisdom with us.
There is one thing, Chair, that I want to get straight on the record right at the start. Mr. Masse was questioning the witness about how many in his community were actually fined. I think that's a very unrealistic question to ask the witness, because there's no way he'd know that unless the privacy at Statistics Canada wasn't that good and he was actually given that information wrongly.
One thing that would happen—and that actually is a good example—is that someone could tell him. For instance, when he's having coffee with a neighbour, they might say they got that threatening phone call. I've had a few farmers tell me that they received a threatening phone call from Statistics Canada during the middle of the harvest, so they do it, but they don't like it.
That's about the only way the witness would know. So I don't think it's appropriate to use it for a question.
Mr. McFarlane, you have heard a lot of things. I know you're in Victoria and it must feel a little frustrating being on TV. You probably wish you were right here in the middle of the action.
Again, it comes back to balancing what you throw people in jail for and what you fine people for and information.
I'll add a dog in this case, Brian, because I know you want to add a dog into the single-mother example.
If you have a scenario where you have a single mother with three kids, who are on the poverty line, and a dog—because the NDP is concerned about the dogs—is it fair to ask how many bedrooms she has and allow her to not answer that, or fine her $500 or threaten her with jail?
Let's say the scenario is an 85-year-old senior who is hard of hearing. Is it fair to ask her that?
What are your opinions on that?