Again, I do not have the exact cycle of the provincial governments, although we've done some research internationally, but here's my understanding of the situation with the federal government in terms of the cycle of the budget and the appropriations.
It is my understanding that the appropriations are actually made before the budget. The budget is developed and then it is tabled on budget day. At that point in time, the budget initiatives are not reflected in the main estimates until the supplementary estimates are done. There actually can be quite a time lag between when a budget decision is made and when it actually is reflected in the estimates.
Let's look at some of the comparisons we did, for example, in New Zealand. In New Zealand the appropriations act is actually the very last step in that cycle. The appropriations are passed after budget day. I would suggest that it would involve looking at the planning cycle, all of these pieces that fit together.
The importance is that these are three pillars that should be fitting together, that there's an appropriate cycle for them, and that we would need to look at that. It's difficult to be transparent about government policies, for example, that are reflected in the budget when they're not then reflected in the main estimates, because the main estimates preceded them, and it takes time for them to be in the supplementary estimates. Does that make sense?