Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Minister, I have a few small comments to make. Earlier, when you spoke of the savings that could be achieved by changing procurement processes, you said that the previous government had pulled numbers from thin air. If you are referring to Treasury Board and the Department of Public Works and Government Services of Canada, I do not believe they were inventing numbers. There must certainly have been recommendations, studies by economists, experts in the field, to lead them to conclude that such savings could be achieved and the ways to do it could be found. In any case, I greatly appreciate your statements of good intentions, of good will, and I hope they reach the lower ranks of your department, so as to be applied in the day-to-day work.
Mr. Minister, could you tell us how much money has been spent by your Department up to now, since January 2006, on public opinion surveys? That’s part of your department’s mandate.