Thank you very much.
Just a couple of points.
First of all, on transparency, you said you were trying to be transparent, yet it took this committee several occasions, several different motions, to compel you to allow us to have the information we needed.
On the second point, I don't think this borders just on extravagant; it goes close to being obscene. Let me share with you some of these numbers here. We talked a little earlier about gifts. You spent $17,955 on gift bowls; $2,500 on eight blankets; there was $30,000 on G-8 aluminum pens, handcrafted pens, red acrylic pens; there was close to $20,000 spent on 24 place settings; there was $12,000 spent on tablecloths. These are at a resort that hosts weddings.
My question to the minister is, how could you justify all these expenditures at a time of fiscal restraint, when you're asking Canadians to tighten their belts, when we're having to cut back?
I'm listening to the Minister of Finance over and over.... But I'm going to ask one specific question, if I may, and this is on the $20,000 ice sculpture that was used during the G-20, I believe it was, in Toronto—$20,000 for an ice sculpture. How is that relevant in a time of fiscal restraint, when you have countries all over the world coming here to discuss the situation in the world, which is really very, very challenging in terms of the economy? How could you justify spending that kind of money on those kinds of items?