Thank you for the question. In fact, thank you for about four questions, I think. I'll work my way through them. I apologize, because I probably was too brief in my introductory comments.
I'll start with the question about the consultations on the regulatory process, where you ended. It was one of your key themes. As you indicated, the Auditor General found some faults and weaknesses in how we consult and whom we consult. The department has committed to change the process by which it develops the regulations. First and foremost, the regulations are put into the public domain through the regulatory process. There's an initial draft regulation that goes out through the Canada Gazette for all Canadians. There's an official comment period, during which we take comments from all Canadians. Then a final set of regulations is published in the Canada Gazette.
I think what you're referring to is the fact that in the preparatory work, in developing the initial set of regulations for public comment, the department does work closely with the manufacturers, because these are the people we're regulating. In the regulatory process, having a dialogue between the regulator and the “regulatee” is a key part of developing proper regulations.
I think it's fair to say that in that process, we were not going out and proactively seeking comments from a larger group of people. In response to the Auditor General's report, we're putting in place a couple of key changes to rectify that. First, we will be publishing on a website our regulatory plan for the next three years. I think we're doing three years at a time. Then all Canadians will be able to see where we intend to strengthen safety regulations in motor vehicles over the next three years. It gives them an opportunity to identify a regulation that's important to them and to provide their perspective to us.
In addition to that, when we're in this pre-regulatory phase, we will be making a point of proactively reaching out to, quite frankly, the kind of stakeholders you listed in your question, saying, “We are working on this issue. Do you have any views on this particular issue? If so, please us know about those views.”
So we're making a concerted effort to put in place a regime wherein very early in the regulatory process—because there's work that has to be done before one gets to a set of draft regulations—we're telling everybody about what we're doing, and we're—