Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. d'Auray, Mr. Smith, good afternoon. It is nice to see you again.
Since I became a member of this committee, which was about three years ago, people have been talking about streamlining expenses. There has been a lot of talk. Unless I am mistaken, the department has been asked several times to not only streamline its operations, but to also trim some fat. The department was told to find superfluous programs that could be eliminated or replaced by new programs in the interest of containing costs.
Ms. d'Auray, in your brief, you said that there will be no salary or hiring freeze, and I would like to focus on the significance of the spending freeze. I would like to begin by talking about the reduced level of service to Canadians, and then move on to how this will affect the working conditions of employees.
When the type of radical streamlining that has been announced is implemented, deputy ministers will need to be able to meet the objectives you have set. First, have you made sure that all deputy ministers, who will have to go through this exercise, will have the same means at their disposal, and that they are all on the same wavelength? Do you have a say in how deputy ministers will scale back their operations?