Welcome, Mr. Page, and your team, to the finance committee once again.
I remember when you were here in the spring. At that time you talked about the government's austerity measures and the impact you predicted they would have as a drag on economic growth. I know the members opposite on the Conservative side were very aggressive in their opposition to that, but I note that in fact more sources, more analysts, tend to be agreeing with the predictions that you made. It must be hard to be out in front on these projections. Even the IMF is saying now that they underestimated the impact of austerity measures and the drag that they would have on growth. First of all, I want to thank you for your fine work on this.
I want to ask you about your job as Parliamentary Budget Officer. You have had a very difficult time, and that has been a very public situation, getting access to basic information to be able to do your job. Can you tell the committee about the legal situation concerning the exercising of your mandate right now?