Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for coming this morning. We appreciate your testimony and your comments.
I'm going to pass by the estimates for a few minutes. Maybe, if I have some time towards the end, I'll quiz you on a couple of things there.
I don't think it will come as a surprise to you, Madame Barrados, but what I'd like to talk to you about this morning is this whole issue of classification creep. You and I have had discussions both here at the committee and elsewhere on this issue.
As I've done a little bit more reading and have become, I believe, a little more educated on this whole issue—but certainly not an expert yet—I have a couple of questions. We know that there are a number of reasons for the changes in classification. Maybe one would be the organized promotion of certain employees after they accomplish certain levels of education or training, and that type of thing; there are those organized methodologies for moving people through classifications. There is also the understanding around this committee that there is a change in the work that's expected from the civil service. We have a lot of people moving into computer tech positions that are increasingly being created as the decades pass, and obviously as a result there are other jobs that are eliminated as these other jobs expand.
The one that concerns me, though, is this change of classification for retention purposes. That is the one that really concerns me.
First of all, can you identify for us how much of the increase of salary across the civil service last year was as a result of a change in classification? Do you know what the number is, or do you have any idea? Has there ever been a number established regarding that particular change, and would you know what it was in the last year? Would you venture a guess?