Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The short answer is I don’t know and I will make inquiries. As the honourable senator knows, and colleagues here would know as well, although Canada has the power through the Crown prerogative to enter into any treaties, the implementation of treaties requires legislation. In that regard, in matters dealing with labour, for example, this engages the provincial jurisdiction over labour, so it is not uncommon. And those with greater foreign affairs experience would probably attest that it is sometimes the case and it may or not be the case here. I will inquire.

But before Canada makes a commitment internationally, it needs to make sure it has some buy-in or participation from the provinces. I don’t know if that’s the case and I will certainly inquire. Thank you for raising that.