I think it is in fact a very accurate reflection of how this could work in relation to international development as well. In day-to-day terms, under the current DFAIT act—the legislation for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade—the Minister of Foreign Affairs is still the “senior” minister, if you will. Yet, it works in a very pragmatic fashion. The Minister of International Trade is a full cabinet minister, responsible for all international trade-related programs and initiatives within the department. It works quite well.
Then you have the deputy minister of International Trade working very collaboratively with the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, even though the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs is the chief accounting officer and has overall responsibility in the day-to-day management of the entire organization. You don't see this in the context of any issues; you see a very strong complementarity.
That model, which has worked well for many years both at headquarters and abroad, can certainly be applied as an example for the international development function as well. You see a lot of coherence and coordination as it relates to foreign policy and international trade-related initiatives. I think this can extend, based on some of the examples we were talking about earlier.
You certainly see, from a Foreign Affairs and International Trade perspective—to build on what my colleague was just saying—accountability for the overall Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade objectives, goals, and priorities. By bringing all of this together, that accountability element, the “single oar in the water” type of analogy, extends to the full suite of the various initiatives as well, with international development included.
Of course, there is an optimizing of performance and resources in that context as well.