Thanks to the Minister. I guess I would ask the Minister if he could provide me and other Members with a written summary of this practice and convention that we’ve been following for however many years he mentioned.
I have great difficulty in seeing a similarity between what we’re talking about here with iPads, which are branded, presumably, and putting money into, for instance, Arctic Winter Games. I don’t see that these are equated quite the same.
It’s one thing to take funding and to put a logo on a program or put a logo at an event on a sign. It’s another thing, in my mind, to take a piece of equipment that a child is going to be using and/or that the parents are going to be using, and put that basically in front of the child or in front of the parents where they’re going to see it over and over and over. So I see a distinction there.
The comment from the Education Minister earlier was that at the end of the day, we have to remember we’re giving iPads loaded with materials to the parents. That struck me as the important thing, is we’re giving the iPads, never mind about the fact that this is a corporate sponsor and never mind about the fact that there is branding on there and that there is a corporate name that is going into the home. Whether the iPad is intended for the parent or not, it’s going to get into the hands of the child. I cannot see that a parent with an iPad is not going to put an app on that iPad that is going to keep their kid amused for 10 minutes while they have a shower or whatever. So I don’t think that we can assume that these iPads are only going to be put into the hands of parents. If we do that, then I think we’re only fooling ourselves.
My request is if we can get some kind of a summary of a policy or protocol or convention that we are following. That’s the question. Thank you.