Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
And thanks very much, Minister, for being before us this morning.
I am a bit like my colleague here, kind of wondering what we're looking at and where we're going with this. We've heard from you that there is a Government of Canada communications policy. We've heard that all of the rules have been followed, and that the policy was followed. We've heard that this was a media inquiry, not an ATIP request, which certainly has different timeframes attached to it. We've heard that you were asked for actuals, which at the point when you were asked, did not exist. We've heard that you released those actuals within three weeks of having that actual figure. It was 21 days later that information was released. We all know we've been waiting 15 years to get information on an ad campaign, and boy, the difference between 21 days and 15 years is mind-boggling. So I commend you on the way you've handled this.
We've heard you've been criticized because you know what's going out of your department, and I simply cannot understand that. If there are people sitting around this table, as elected politicians, who don't know what's going out of their offices, then they definitely are not doing their jobs. Knowing what's happening in your department I think is a good thing, so I commend you for that.