Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to thank our guests for attending this morning.
I listened with great interest to how you are doing what you're doing. I've heard your presentation. You've talked about having things, it seems to me, well in hand in terms of how you're going to deal with the issue of the challenges that, frankly, all Canadians face. What Canadians are asking this government to do, and I believe governments across this land, is to spend more appropriately within its means. We've talked at some length about how this recovery is fragile. I think there is some great news coming forward, but clearly it's still fragile, and I think we have to be sensitive to it. So I admire the approach your department has taken.
What I've heard over the past number of weeks as we've discussed, for a number of meetings, departmental freezes is that there doesn't seem to be a plan. My sense is that you have a plan. It's fairly clear from what you've presented and how you've responded to some of the questions.
I have two questions.
How would you respond to the question that you have a plan in terms of the implementation of the budget freeze? Second, and perhaps the critical question that Canadians would ask and citizens from my city of London would ask, what is the impact on Canadians in terms of the service levels they can expect as a result of some of the decisions your department has had to make, sir?