Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Minister. Thank you for making yourself available for nearly two hours.
My first question is about the main estimates. Regarding salaries, departments and agencies need to be able to pay their employees. Of course, this also has to do with parental benefits, separation pay and other types of benefits.
However, the 2010-2011 main estimates contain exactly the same amount for salaries, mainly $500 million, as did the main estimates of 2009-2010. I would therefore like to know how the Treasury Board Secretariat determines the amount at vote 30.