It's frustrating, I guess, for the members around this committee to get different answers at different times. We were told by others who appeared before that this would be in supplementary estimates, and now we're hearing, no, it's just the savings are coming out of that 1.5%. So we don't know exactly how that impacts people. We know how it impacts departments, in that it's a 1.5% reduction they have to find. We just don't know how they're finding it. That's the frustration.
I'm going to go on to my next question. It comes out of our main estimates, which were tabled today, as you well know. The minister has been saying it's a $10-billion reduction. I just want to make sure we're all clear on this. The main estimates in 2010 were $267.3 billion, but at the end of the cycle, with supplementary estimates (A), (B), and (C), we're actually at $277.8 billion, which is a $10.5 billion increase, really, at the end of this whole cycle. That's quite something. And then to hear that we're going to be saving that $10.5 billion again, I thought it was interesting.
I read David Akin's article. He talked about “Ottawa cuts billions in 2012 spending plan”. He goes on to talk about “Overall government spending grew by more than 6% in Harper’s first year in office, by nearly 5% in year two, and by about 2.6% in year three”, and that this rollback, even if it is to $250 billion next year, “will still be $11 billion higher than what was spent in fiscal 2009”.
My question to you is, knowing that the main estimates come out around budget time, they are changed throughout the year—(A), (B), (C) supplements—and as you've pointed out, this is a couple of years now that we've gone to supplementary (C)s. We have a fiscal responsibility to the people of Canada. How can we as a committee be assured of that spending control you talk about?