Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like to thank Industry Canada for the great documentation and the pretty comprehensive overview it provided us this morning with respect to small and medium enterprises. That will help the Committee.
Ms. saint pierre, I do not often congratulate you, but I am going to today. I was impatient to receive your answer to the question I asked you, and we did in fact receive it this week. Your document has provided us with an enormous amount of information about the current situation and answers both my question and those of my colleagues. So, I wanted to express my thanks.
My first question is addressed to you, Ms. saint pierre. The issue we are currently examining actually flows from the initiative called “The Way Forward”. That is my understanding. The purpose of that initiative was, and I will quote you on this: “[…] to simplify procurement processes in order to reduce administrative costs; […] realize savings in relation to all purchases of goods and services.”
However, the document you have provided suggests that the projected savings were considerably overestimated at the time. It even said that the targets set in terms of the potential savings will never be met. In the document, it says that the department realized a saving of $69 million in 2005-06 and $225 million in 2006-07, for a total of about $300 million.
Ms. saint pierre, within your department, as a result of new work tools for staff and specific arrangements that you have made, you were able to save $300 million, without resorting to bundling. Is that correct?