When we started this process, there was a certain amount of apprehension on the part of the federal government, on the one hand, and the provinces and territories, on the other, because we'd never done anything like this before.
Essentially, we had briefing sessions with the provinces before every negotiating session so that they could understand what would be expected and what our strategy was.
We would regularly report back to them. We had a debriefing session every evening after the negotiations were finished to tell them exactly what had been achieved, to get their reactions, and to make sure we had their support on an ongoing basis. On many issues we would take them into the room and have a debate on what Canada's position should be.
When we first went to Brussels, there were up to 60 provincial and territorial representatives who came with us. We briefed them every evening, without exception. We met them individually if they had one-on-one concerns. Over time, and bear in mind this has been more than four years, we've developed a very cohesive and constructive team, and I think we've all been extremely pleased with how it's worked out.