Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.
Thank you all for your presentations.
As we're meeting here with a very useful discussion, the Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Finance are busy announcing major cutbacks. We've just learned, in fact, that the full surplus of $13.2 billion for this past budget year is all going against the debt. There is not a penny to program spending or to meet any of the concerns we've been hearing about for years. Also, $2 billion in program cuts has been announced, covering just about every department. We're probably looking at hundreds of programs and hundreds of jobs.
Following Andrew Jackson's reminder that the government in the past had decried Liberals for daring to make these kinds of decisions without public consultation, were any of you consulted? Andrew, were you consulted? Was anyone consulted on these cuts?
No one was consulted. That's interesting. I remember sitting here and hearing nothing but outcry from members of the Conservatives, suggesting that these kinds of decisions should be brought to Parliament and that the people of Canada should have voice through their members of Parliament and that there should be some element of democracy when such dramatic decisions are made.
Let me start with you, Andrew. Although we're all interested in paying down the debt, what does this full allocation of the surplus of $13.2 billion to the debt mean in terms of some of the dire situations you have outlined, the concerns of workers, and our economy as a whole?