Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Minister, thank you for being here today.
With the review of the estimates process in mind, I cannot help but point out that glaring problems exist, such as those that came to light with respect to the Border Infrastructure Fund. A few million dollars had actually been allocated to the G8 Summit. You will recall the few discussions we had on the matter. I hope that main estimates and supplementary estimates going forward will be clearer and more specific, so that we are able to verify where the money was really spent.
I am not sure whether you can give us any insight into this, but members of the public service have been feeling a lot of uncertainty in the wake of the strategic reviews and the upcoming 5% and 10% cutbacks. We have heard that nearly 30,000 public service jobs could disappear. Yesterday, you said that you were going to respect collective agreements. I hope so. The government should respect the contracts it signs; that is the least it can do. That decision means, then, that those employees whose jobs are going to be cut will receive a certain amount of severance pay.
How do you think public services provided to Canadians will be affected by the elimination of 30,000 public servants? We aren't talking peanuts, that is a big number. The public service could lose a tremendous number of people.