Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for coming here today.
I need to clarify with you, and I'm sure you will understand, that Ms. Chow's comments about groups not understanding this is not an accurate reflection of what many of us have heard in our meetings with groups. We have heard that indeed they do understand what is happening here and why it's happening. I'm sure we all have our own little horror story, if you will, from constituents.
I was elected at the same time you were, Minister, and one of the first issues I dealt with was family reunification. Maybe it's my failing—I don't know—but it still hasn't happened. So that's almost four years for one example of why the backlog isn't working. I congratulate you for putting this forward.
I tend not to deal in the past, but I can't help but ask—and you probably have a better understanding—what created this backlog. What is there in the system? What requirements in the system created such a backlog that we're dealing with?