I think protocol, as others have pointed out, would be involved for such things as how to deal with the flag, how to deal with the order of precedence. Those, to me, are protocols. Those are things that need to be respected. There needs to be a standard approach, and really there should be no deviation from that.
For customs there is flexibility. I think as some of the knowledgeable people around the table have indicated, if you have somebody of aboriginal ancestry who has passed away, right now there's really no place to go to look at how you incorporate that into a traditional kind of ceremony. Seeing that as a custom that respects the individual and respects the wishes or desires of the family would fall into that kind of category.
When I'm talking about customs, customs grow and change depending on the people of the day and the demographics of a community, and they reflect the needs at that time, but protocols are things that don't change. For me, anything that is related to national symbols or to orders of precedence should not change. To me, those truly reflect the Canadian way. This is a Canadian thumbprint on whatever approach or ceremony you're pursuing.