Thank you very much. My name is Toby Sanger. I'm a senior economist for the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Thank you very much to the committee for the opportunity to present our recommendations for the upcoming federal budget.
I just want to say at the outset that I think this is a really important exercise. I think we all appreciate it, and it is really great that the pre-budget consultations are going ahead this year. I believe there should be more public participation in the budget-making process; it's the most important thing that government does. I think we all appreciate that. So I'm really glad it's happening this year, instead of necessarily going to the polls at this time.