Just to move the ball forward a little bit, I'm hoping the government members here might want to get rid of the provisions with respect to secret ballot, which would get us out of this constitutional amendment aspect.
Secondly, I'm hoping they will choose to keep parliamentary privileges, which in your second suggestion means that this committee could propose an amendment to the proposed Conflict of Interest Act.
What I'm asking you as counsel to Parliament is how that would work. It exists at other levels of law, where certain boards, agencies, commissions, law societies, etc., give certain rights, but they're inferior to the rights of the Charter of Rights, for instance.
Am I correct in thinking that the proposed conflict of interest subordinate to members' privileges would still be in effect for public office-holders, but that the public office-holder, if he were so impugned or needed the reach, if you like, of the age-old parliamentary privileges, could invoke them?
Is that an understanding?