Government Operations committee  Of course we do.

Government Operations committee  I'm trying to give you examples of where the spending is. For example, there have been advances that have been paid. We have that number.

Government Operations committee  I believe, Minister, you have mentioned the advances to provinces.

Government Operations committee  Maybe I can explain the way the programs work. When the commitment is made, our partners start to work, and that means economic activity starts taking place. They hire engineering firms or do certain kinds of construction, and when it is time for them to report, they send us the bills, which we pay.

Government Operations committee  We won't know exactly how much they have spent until the bills arrive.

Government Operations committee  We have a website and the information, which I'm sure all members have seen. As my colleague John Forster said, we have the basic project information and we get reports from our partners. These are partnerships, and our partners are reporting on actual projects. It is not exactly the same kind of information.

Government Operations committee  We don't spend until we get invoices.