Indeed I am, Mr. Chairman.
I am also going to ask for unanimous consent for something else; I will not take up much time.
Paragraph 1a) of the document provided by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel states the following:
a) Secret ballot votes — provisions contrary to constitutional position of the House of Commons and to section 49, Constitution Act, 1867.
That is serious.
And paragraph 1b) states that:
b) Debate and votes in the House —provisions contrary to the constitutional position of the House of Commons.
That is serious.
Paragraph 3:
3. Requests to the Ethics Commissioner Sections 44 and 48 of the proposed Conflict of Interest Act present potential legal problems for members and thereby compromise their constitutional privileges and, indirectly, those of the House.
That is serious.
Paragraph 4:
4. Members and trusts Sections 41.1, 41.2 and 41.3 of the proposed Conflict of Interest Act present legal and constitutional problems; courts could become involved; amendments misplaced.
That is serious.
Mr. Chairman, if we were to adopt Bill C-2 in its current form, we would have to amend legislation that dates back to 1689 and that has never been amended. I would ask for unanimous consent—assuming that nobody thinks that the authors of this document are just lowly public servants seeking to influence our decision—to hear from these witnesses as soon as is possible.