Thank you very much.
And again, thank you to our guests.
In fact, I'd like to be a little bit more specific. According to the information we heard from PWGSC, in the very first relationship they had with Brookfield LePage Johnson Controls, if I read correctly, they indicated that savings achieved were in the order of $20 million annually. I gather that, according to this, in the first three years of the contract with SNC-Lavalin O&M contracts, the department saved almost $87 million above and beyond the savings from the original contracts.
That strikes me as fairly significant. When we heard the folks from Public Works talk about some of the rationale behind what they could do, what became very clear to me and what they had indicated was to not compete in those areas where private enterprise should have the opportunity to do so. I'd like to commend SNC-Lavalin for that, because that is a testament. Those millions of dollars of taxpayers saving is hugely significant and really does support the decision that was made to farm out what they consider non-core services.
My Cape Breton mum used to say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. In truth, when I look at that $87 million of savings, that is some pretty good eating, or lack of eating perhaps, as the case might be. But again, it is hugely significant.
You indicated the number of audits, Mr. Rate, in terms of what you do internally within your organization. I was struck by that. If I read and heard correctly, you indicated that you carried out some 400 internal audits. Explain to me how that works, please. You have obviously more suppliers than that, but do you pick a certain number? How do you determine what you're going to audit where? Is it a flow-through?
We do that with various departments where we try to determine savings in various departments by picking different ones annually on a triennial basis. What is your logic with respect to audits, who you audit and how that works?