Thank you.
It is difficult to search and dig through the supplementary estimates (B) to try to understand and dissect all of the information there, what amounts will be reduced, and why there is spending for a particular item. Because a lot of things are combined. It is sometimes difficult for us as parliamentarians to follow the puck, as they say in hockey. In fact, Kevin Page, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, says it is difficult for parliamentarians to follow and they just approve what comes from Treasury Board.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer is also seriously concerned about the fact that we are losing control of spending. Although the government says it is going to rationalize, it is going to cut certain services, we see that the budget keeps growing, year after year. It is as if no one has any hold over it and no one is able to control anything.
Just with respect to personnel expenditures, in spite of budget cuts, the strategic review and attrition of positions, we see that spending for personnel, for employees, keeps going up. Even in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 budgets, this spending has neither stabilized nor declined; it is still going up.
What is going on in your department?