Earlier, I gave two very specific examples. The first concerned Australia, with jurisdictions very similar to Canada's. In fact, the states are responsible for education at all levels, under that country's constitution. However, the cooperation and coordination in Australia with regard to post-secondary education is quite different from what one sees here in Canada.
The other example that I mentioned is perhaps a little more interesting for Canada. I am referring to the European Union, where all member countries are independent by definition. However, countries share common goals, goals that they adopted as a European society. Despite the constitutional context of the various independent countries, it's possible to adopt goals, to work together and to harmonize education systems and training systems at all levels.
For example, let's talk about innovation and productivity. The goal of each country in the European Union is to allocate 3% of GDP to research and development. In Canada we are currently spending less than 2% on R&D. Which of the two, the European Union or Canada, will achieve better results?
So, I don't want to hear that we cannot have common goals because Alberta is different from Nova Scotia. Denmark manages to work with Italy within the European Union.