Maybe I'll answer it in a couple of ways, Chair.
In terms of setting our priorities, in terms of setting what we are going to do in a country, we would have consultations. For example, we had extensive consultations last summer before we developed our thematic priorities. We consulted in Canada with a great number, a cross-section of Canadians, we consulted in our countries, and we consulted with other partners, other donor agencies. So we did a consultation, and CIDA consults on a continuous basis.
So we did consultations for that. As we develop our country strategies, we will consult both in Canada and in the countries themselves, and of course with the partner countries, etc. CIDA has a very strong tradition of consultations. It is also one of the requirements under the overseas development assistance act for us to consult, and we do that.
In terms of our operational issues, we don't consult on operational decisions. Those are the decisions of the government, the department, and the minister, and we don't consult on those. Canadians can apply and those decisions are the decisions taken internally.