The Parliament of Canada Act says that it's a member of Parliament or senator who can make the request for an examination in relation to the public office holders who are covered. That's what the act says. The amendment in the code was making a statement that could have been interpreted in two ways. One was that a Canadian citizen could lodge a complaint with a member of Parliament, and the member of Parliament could essentially just post it through their office to us.
What we sought there was to know if that essentially allows a complaint to flow through a member of Parliament to us. The advice we got was that it could not; it has to be the member's request. The member can take into consideration information that he or she may receive from a member of the public, but it has to be the member's request, not just a case of a member of Parliament receiving documentation and just essentially posting it to the Office of the Ethics Commissioner saying it's a request for investigation.