Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today.
I see that the overall budget has been decreased. We could discuss that, but it is a political issue. You are not the ones who determine it.
I would like to bring up a second problem, the one that immigrant support agencies face. Funds are shifted to respond to a new reality, in other words, to places where immigrants are landing. That's how I understand it. Although, in principle, I find it commendable and understandable, I'm a little stunned by the brutality of the measure, partly because I am familiar with these types of agency. We all have them in our constituencies, especially in the urban ones. These are human beings who are working for these agencies, and we should not move them from one city to another as if they were a troupe. They have lives. They are settled in. As you said, a number of these agencies have been around for a long time. Some newcomers depend on them. And to use the example you gave us, all of a sudden, we are told that the need is now in York and we have to find a way to move everything there in a year.
So, I'm wondering something. Could you do the same thing if it involved public servants? Could you decide that, out of 60 CIC employees working in Toronto, 32 would be sent to York, 22 to Alberta, 3 to Manitoba and so on? Can you imagine such a brutal and quick transition in the public service, or is this process only possible because these agencies respond to calls for offers and decisions to fund them are made from year to year?