Thank you, Mr. Chair. I realize the Member is on the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures and was present during the rather extensive discussion we had on this, which we’re hearing again today. The CEO assured committee members that every community does have an accredited financial institution that would qualify. This includes co-operatives and Northern Stores. It’s recognized that not every transaction will be on the record of a financial institution. I suspect that’s true for all of us here today, but every receipt of dollars and every expenditure must certainly be accounted for and documented in one form or other, as Mr. Hawkins said.
This motion provides one of the tools that have been deemed by the Chief Electoral Officer to be the most useful, and committee explicitly recognized that while it may be most valuable in communities or in campaigns where dollar amounts are large and transactions are a bit more complex, it will also be a useful record in all communities, especially for the relatively large transactions that are made in each campaign. Again, it was considered a useful tool and a financial oversight quiver and its limitations were fully recognized and discussed. Committee agreed on the wording here
and specifically concluded that exceptions were not required.