First off, thank you very much for your comments about the work of the commission. It really is only possible because I have a great team. They have gone through an enormous amount of change, and they are working very hard to move on new directions. I must say I'm encouraged by the kind of support we're getting from the deputies and the departments, even though they sometimes don't like to hear my little lectures. But we are working and making progress, so thank you for those comments.
On the question about the internal, external, and non-advertised positions, you will note that the years are on top. This chart reflects a very big change that occurred with the new legislation. The first two columns are entirely the old act, the third column is partially the old act and partially the new act, and the last column is entirely the new act. Under the old act you had to do everything internal before you could go external. You had to come to the commission before you could go outside. That was the law. That was dropped, so you see the external advertising shows quite a rise. The last column has a bigger number in it. That was a legislative change. It was a parliamentary decision that you go outside if you want, or you do it inside, but it wasn't a requirement.
The decision as to whether you look for a position—and these are all executives—inside the government or outside is entirely the hiring manager's. I think that's appropriate. It should be the hiring manager who decides. The hiring manager has to make that determination based on their needs and what they think the availability is.
In terms of the non-advertised positions, if you refer to the last column, under the old act this was very much controlled. Under this new act, non-advertised positions are allowed. The commission doesn't encourage them, because I think it violates transparency, but there are cases where it makes sense. These numbers reflect the work that comes to the commission. It's optional. You don't have to come to the commission.
With the past two columns, you had to come to the commission. Now you don't. If you're doing non-advertised positions, why would you come to the commission? There's not much we can do to help, except to discourage you from doing it.