Government Operations committee  We're actually talking about the operating budget and—

Government Operations committee  Chair, as I indicated to the member's colleague, that gives us a certain amount of flexibility. I don't know today how many of those we would replace, but I can tell you the approach. They will be selected to meet very specific, defined operational needs. That's why we have in pl

Government Operations committee  We do our very best to begin with the service levels. We can only spend what Parliament has voted for us. The statutory programs with respect to the amounts and eligibility drive themselves, in a sense. We're responsible for managing the operating budget and delivering, in as eff

Government Operations committee  But I would like to point out that, as a department, we have been a little lucky. While we were preparing, during that period, we were able to spend a lot of time on improving our services. That approach required that we get ready by refining our systems, and our procedures for f

Government Operations committee  Exactly. For us, this specific mission has had very useful results in this context. I would also like to clarify that the figures we are discussing concern the operating expenses budget. They do not include all the financial resources that we have been allocated, including the t

Government Operations committee  Actually, I said that attrition gives us some flexibility. I didn't say that we would not make up for some of the attrition rate. It's a matter of judgment for us. We need to see what the demands are. That will guide our choices as a department.

Government Operations committee  I told Mr. Vincent that, in all sectors, there are a lot of expenses and savings. We need to spend and invest in services, whether it's people, technology, the development of systems that measure levels of service, or other things still. We get indications from some of our system

Government Operations committee  Those are the major ones. In any given year we may have reductions associated with the sunsetting of programs, for example, that are only financed for a finite period. If those programs end, we would potentially reduce our FTE count as a result of that. Also, through fairly comp

Government Operations committee  It would go up and down somewhat, but it would be fairly typical over the last several years. If anything, I think we would anticipate it growing marginally as the demographic bulge in the public service works its way through. Frankly, this is one of the concerns that all of us

Government Operations committee  First, Mr. Chair, I accept the honourable member's congratulations and thank her for them.

Government Operations committee  I have signed many memoranda to ministers over the years, Chair, and I've received varied responses--

Government Operations committee  All I can say, Chair, is I have always endeavoured to make my advice and recommendations to my ministers clear. I've been blessed with ministers whose responses have been clear in their reaction to my advice.

Government Operations committee  The impact of the operating freeze, Chair, for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada is $4.1 million in the next fiscal year, 2011-12, and $5.2 million in 2012-13. That's the impact of the operating freeze.

Government Operations committee  Yes. We anticipate that in the order of the 3,000 employees we brought in on a temporary basis to assist with the workload increase relative to employment insurance.... We anticipated from the outset that, following the recovery, those staff resources would not be required, so we

Government Operations committee  Yes.