I'll start by saying that the Government of Canada uses accrual accounting for its pension obligations, and for the major pension obligations has done so for the last four years. Whether for the public service, for veterans, and so on, those are all recorded on the books of Canada.
The main difference with cash is that currently under accrual accounting, as public servants work each year, there is a calculation done of the cost related to the pension they will ultimately receive. There is an actuarial evaluation done periodically—I'll try to make it simple—so there is a calculation of the cost. That is done, and that's the amount that's recorded as an expense in the operations.
The amount that's actually paid into a pension fund could be a completely different amount. In many cases, in fact, there is no amount paid into a pension fund, but there is a recording of the amount that will ultimately be payable to the employees. It's actually showing the liability, the amount the government will owe for future pension costs, and that is being recorded year after year, as people work and earn those pension benefits.