Thank you.
I think there's a bit of a mismatch between people's expectations of the SPP and the way in which governments have constructed the architecture. Governments have conceived of the SPP as a mechanism for departments and officials who have particular expertise to talk to one another about potential initiatives that governments could individually undertake.
The thinking behind the SPP was always that it was a cooperative mechanism that was not binding of one government to another and that was not a negotiating agenda. Hence, governments perceived that the mandate to make changes or to consider and to talk to stakeholders would remain with the areas of expertise in our respective governments. So if it is a matter involving health, then Health Canada would be responsible for consulting with the stakeholders who have a particular interest in health. We did not create an architecture that was an umbrella for the SPP.