Public Accounts committee  I'll take a stab at that just to explain first of all the requirements for memoranda to cabinet. The Privy Council Office puts out a guide for memoranda to cabinet for departments and ministers. We ask departments to include where appropriate: adverse consequences of proceeding

Public Accounts committee  This is a large group of analysis. What is mandatory is good public policy advice, but we don't dictate to departments exactly what aspects--

Public Accounts committee  I would just add that the Privy Council Office, as the secretariat to cabinet, looks at proposals when they are still in development—that is, at the policy research stage—making sure that data is brought forward and the analysis is being done. We ask challenge questions. As is

Public Accounts committee  Thank you. I'll have to check on the date for you, sir. We have required that for a couple of years as part of the memorandum-to-cabinet template. We have advised departments that gender issues should be incorporated where appropriate and, as has been mentioned by the witnesses

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I'll answer what I can and invite my colleagues to follow.

Status of Women committee  Okay. I'll just say that I take some exception to the idea that things fall apart at the end. I think that—

Status of Women committee  But I will comment, if you like, in terms of the documentation. I would just reiterate that I think it is impractical to expect that the informal go-between between analysts and departments should be documented. The suggestion of doing so after the fact is also impractical. If on

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I would say that departments that put an emphasis on policy research, and put an emphasis on data development, tend to have more robust policy analyses that come forward. We put a lot of emphasis on evidence-based policy, so it's highly variable. I would say in gener

Status of Women committee  With your indulgence, Madam Chair, I would say that's a question best put to the Department of Finance in terms of budgeting. I would only say that every time we go through a budget season, through consultations and so forth, we bring the analytical capacity to bear to make sur

Status of Women committee  At the Privy Council Office we don't play as close a challenge function in terms of reporting for results in the accountability framework. It's more Treasury Board Secretariat's purview, so we don't report on the challenge function in that formal a way.

Status of Women committee  I would say, Madam Chair, that we monitor on an ongoing basis. There is no formal documented monitoring system. I realize this is perhaps at the heart of some people's frustration in this area, that it's not amenable to that kind of documentation. I would only say, as I did earli

Status of Women committee  Perhaps, Madam Chair, I'll start and then turn it over to Catrina afterwards. One of the interesting things about gender-based analysis is that it spans the entire policy development process, all the way from policy research to the development of options, decision-making, implem

Status of Women committee  Indeed, Madam Chair, I would say that the professionalism and the networks around policy-making are what matter. That's one of the reasons why I think that documentation is good, as far it goes. In fact, you will not find a stronger champion for the results of audits and bringing

Status of Women committee  I have to say that at PCO, we are very proud of the quality of our analyses.

Status of Women committee  There are many cases where we turn over our analysis to the minister, for example, our briefing to the chair of the Cabinet committee...