Let me make a short comment on that question. Most budgets in a parliamentary system are not examined very much by the legislature. Certainly in a congressional /presidential system the President of the United States proposes a budget and Congress and the Senate decide. In a parliamentary system the Minister of Finance announces the budget and the legislature approves the budget, and we have interesting cases in minority government as we are seeing today. But the real interactions take place in the pre-budget stage, and they happen between ministers and the Minister of Finance surrounded by a series of interest groups and strong views from the outside.
One of the more significant committees is the finance committee, because they, unlike the supply committees and the committees that look at estimates after they've been decided, can shape and influence the budget. So I would encourage committees to begin to use those things to ensure that not only is the finance committee looking to set the fiscal issues--how big is the surplus and things of that nature--but they are also looking at the ramifications of these issues in terms of gender, in terms of all the other things, and they afford the opportunity to raise these issues in the pre-budget consultations and to raise them forcefully with the Minister of Finance and with others in that process.
The other process of course, and Professor Young has alluded to this, is the consultation process in which various interests groups, including groups who represent women and many other groups, have an opportunity to raise these issues with the Minister of Finance. I think it is significant when a Minister of Finance, like the previous one, said...I think his words were that to the best of his ability he would be examining the gender-based implications of his budgets. That is a very significant statement. That is something I think needs to be followed up and examined.
I don't know if this Minister of Finance has said that, but it certainly would be wonderful if he did. That gives one a hook and an angle on which to come back on these things and examine the commitments that finance ministers are making about how they're putting their budgets and the implications and the analysis they're doing.