Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Toews, Ms. Gillis, and Mr. Smith. It's great to have you here with us. We appreciate you taking the time.
We remain, as you know, concerned about the speed within which money is actually getting out the door. We've had the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure in and learned about some real problems in getting infrastructure money out the door.
My questions today will focus on vote 35, of course, because it is a Treasury Board responsibility.
I will begin with just a very quick statement from page 2 of the budget plan. It says that Canada is in a recession today and that measures to support the economy must begin within the next 120 days to be most effective. I'll point out that the 120th day is actually tomorrow. We do have some concerns about where the money has actually been spent.
I note in your preamble, Mr. Minister, that you talk about having achieved the necessary authorities. Well, yes, we actually did approve this budget--flawed as we felt it was--but very much on the basis that we recognized the need to get stimulus money out the door as quickly as possible.
My first question is on what has been allocated under vote 35 as of April 30. We don't have information for beyond April 30. Of that $1.8 billion, under vote 35, can you distinguish for me, and give me a number, the distinction between an allocation...? In looking through the allocations, it's very clear that some of that money is not actually spendable right away. So my question is, given the need for stimulus, of the $1.8 billion that was allocated, can you tell me how much of that money has actually been spent? And that means cheques actually written and money out the door, going back to the 120 days. It's actually spent and now in the economy doing what it's supposed to be doing.