Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also wish to thank our guests for being with us today.
You often talk about strategy. I do not find this situation at all reassuring. I do not see any strategy in it. I see objectives and constraints that you have been saddled with. You do what you can in the circumstances, but the reality is that there is a lack of planning.
According to the government’s news releases, the reductions under the 2012 budget should theoretically come from internal services. However, I note throughout the government and within your department, an increase in the estimates for program activities in the case of internal services. In light of the strategic review of the 2011 budget, the business review of the 2012 budget and the transfers to Shared Services Canada, I would have expected to see a reduction in such program activity.
Can you explain this increase to us?