Well, I think in my initial presentation I did make a suggestion. The suggestion would be to try to fix some of the weaknesses in the current bill. Most of the weaknesses have to do with the fact that it's not clear whether this is or is not finally an elected Senate, because the Prime Minister retains the discretion--we don't know how he'll use it--to decide whether or not there will be a Senate election, whether to accept the results, whether it will be in some provinces but not in others. That seems to me to be far too much uncertainty in the bill.
The other big recommendation I made was that the election not be held coincident with a federal election or a provincial election, but on a separate day.
What I would like the committee to do is strengthen the bill, tighten it, clarify it, so it becomes more clearly an elected-Senate bill.
But then, we understand that gets close, and maybe over the line, to doing something that Parliament does not have the constitutional authority to do. There is not a consensus on that question. Lawyers like Peter Hogg and Pat Monahan and Fabien Gélinas have said that this bill is okay. But even they worry that once you add Bill C-19 to it and tighten it up, then it might cross the line.
What I would like to see the committee do is craft the best bill they can, then submit it to a Supreme Court reference. That will test the waters and test whether and how the federal Parliament on its own can try to improve the Senate. If the Supreme Court says, “No, you've crossed the line”, then we have to go the constitutional route.