Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Page and gentlemen, for coming. We appreciate your testimony and we appreciate the role you undertake in helping to provide clarity for our committee.
In terms of the current conditions we find ourselves in, I don't think this is unique. We've seen it in other times that the Canadian government has had to restrain spending to try to address budgetary concerns. I'm wondering if you've undertaken any analysis, kind of a “lessons learned” approach, of some of the most recent budget cuts or even freezes. If so, would there be any advice to give to us from your analysis of those? I'd include analyses of other jurisdictions as well, possibly other countries and quite possibly provincial governments.
Are there things that you would advise us to be cautious of, or things that you'd encourage us to do as a committee, in terms of recommending to the government places where money could be saved or efficiencies could be found?