I believe, very simply, that Canada's democracy demands that legislation be brought in. One, there should be an independent arm to administer ethics screens, and two, it should be brought in for the perception of conflict. As the prior member's questioning pointed towards, the public, just like journalists, can make observations that successful business persons may have had a long history of engagement with foreign governments or foreign businesses. When said business persons take a seat of power in Ottawa, Canadians reasonably believe that they are human, like anyone else, and relationships can, and in fact do, extend from business into politics.
I think it's important that the perception of conflict, which reasonable, well-read people can perceive, does extend to the ethics regime.