A government paper setting out proposals and inviting consultation on a policy, before it is ever presented as a White Paper, is identified by what colour?
Green paper a white paper, is an official government document. Green papers tend to be statements not of policy already determined, but of propositions put before the whole nation for discussion. They are produced early in the policy-making process, while ministerial proposals are still being formulated. Many white papers in Canada have been, in effect, green papers, while at least one green paper—that on immigration and population in 1975—was released for public debate after the government had already drafted legislation. Similarly, in the UK, green papers are official consultation documents produced by the government for discussion both inside and outside Parliament, for
White paper paper" originated with the British government, and many point to the Churchill White Paper of 1922 as the earliest well-known example under this name. In British government it is usually the less extensive version of the so-called "blue book", both terms being derived from the colour of the document's cover. White papers are a "... tool of participatory democracy ... not [an] unalterable policy commitment." "White papers have tried to perform the dual role of presenting firm government policies while at the same time inviting opinions upon them." In Canada, a white paper is "...a policy document, approved by Cabinet,