Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for your presence, as well as the other witnesses here today.
I'd like to start with an issue that's particularly troubling for people in this region—cuts to the public service and its relationship to the mains. We learned that on February 22, the Public Service Commission offered courses to managers in order to learn how to better lay off their personnel. At Treasury Board, a $13-million litigation management office was created to deal with layoffs.
Minister, I hope that you will be the first minister to tell us exactly what all of this means for the public service. On page 309 of the main estimates, there is a $41.9 million reduction. In June, along with—I believe it was Minister Clement—you talked about 700 jobs being cut at Public Works. Could you tell us what these main estimates represent for cutting jobs in the public service, particularly in the Ottawa capital region?