With all due respect to the agency, I can assure you, Mr. O'Connor, that what I'm about to say shouldn't be taken personally at all, but I suspect that many Canadians have just listened to your explanation and are wondering how a system that costs $5 billion a year and that is not integrated could possibly have been put in place. I have to say that I am at a loss for words when I hear an explanation like this.
Basically, I knew beforehand what your answer was going to be. I find your candour refreshing. You answer our questions clearly and I appreciate your professionalism. However, setting that aside, I do think that the public, and in particular young people, are scrutinizing the government's actions. When they see themselves saddled with two-year deficits in the order of $100 billion, they want assurances that we know what we are doing. Frankly, I think that before increasing your budgets, you should have looked for money within existing budgets. It's a classic response on your part to say that if we do not secure new money from the Treasury, we will have to sacrifice another activity. That's a classic response, because you control the purse strings. However, if the answer was to find new funds, while improving service to the public at the same time, I'm sure you would manage to do that.