The vision of the committee was that government would be responsible for the core functions of public health. Those core functions were assessment, policy development and assurance. Although well thought out and justified, most members of the public had a difficult time understanding what these core functions meant. Beginning in 1993, efforts were made to make these functions more understandable. The result of that process which included a number of committees and iterations over time and concluded when the Core Functions of Public Health Steering Committee articulated a simpler mission, and vision as well as the what and how of public health. (See web site for an excellent description of this process.)