Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming in today.
We are trying, in the spirit of bipartisanship, or tripartisanship, to solve a problem that's been around for a long time. We had officials from Treasury Board show us copies of main estimates from the 1880s, and they don't look a whole lot different from what we see today. I brought a copy of the 2012-13 main estimates, which probably doesn't bear any real resemblance to what will really get spent, because there's a budget coming up that will change what the actual expenditures will be.
We've talked about timing with respect to the budget vis-à-vis the estimates. I'm intrigued by what you said about Australia and New Zealand, with regard to coming up with a budget and estimates at the same time. As someone with a business background, I can tell you that this is how you would try to run a business.
Is there a problem with budget secrecy? It's a long-standing tradition that we don't divulge the budget ahead of time, so that no one gains from it, economically or otherwise. Is there a problem in Canada? I know New Zealand is a much smaller country, and perhaps they're able to keep the more detailed planning process of estimates more confined. What barriers would there be in Canada to doing that, having budgets and estimates coming at the same time?
Maybe you could tell us whether this is something we could do, as opposed to having a fall budget or a time lag between a budget and main estimates.