Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, witnesses, for attending this morning.
Last Monday a court ruling dismissed part of Mr. Page's case on a technicality, but it seems it gave a significant boost to the PBO, stating that the office is answerable not only to the government but also to members of Parliament of all parties. The ruling strongly upheld the right of the PBO to take the government to court if it refused to provide requested information.
Its decision to go to court was, of course, prompted by a request by Mr. Mulcair, the leader of the opposition, to the PBO to analyze $5.2 billion in cuts made in the 2012 federal budget and their impact on jobs and service levels.
How valuable is this court decision to the work of the PBO in your view?