Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, for your presentation and for joining us, Ms. Benoit. I would like to thank you for responding to the request that I made before this committee.
As you might suspect, we are going to have some tough questions, but before getting to the meat of the matter, I would still like to give you a pat on the back. As a Montrealer and a father, I would like to congratulate you on the Science Centre in Montreal. It is a great place. It is always a treat to go there with my children. You have great exhibits.
But in terms of how your budget is managed, without wanting to get anyone upset, we have some serious questions to ask you. There are thousands of paid lunches with duck confit on the menu. We have heard about luxury retreats to Mont-Tremblant. Over two years, they have cost $13,842 for eight people, or roughly $7,000 per meeting. You also receive a car allowance of $20,000, though you live about three blocks away from your office.
How do you justify those financial anomalies and what seems to be a waste of public funds?