Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming in today to speak about this important issue. I think the last time you spoke in front of this committee was a couple of years ago, when you were newly appointed. It's good to see you back.
It's also good to see I think some positive trends. I always appreciate looking at what's happening year over year, but I also appreciate the fact that in your report you have some longer-term trends.
One figure that intrigues me in particular is figure 6 in your report, where you talk about “Appointments under the Public Service Employment Act of new indeterminate employees, by fiscal year”. This goes all the way back to 1993.
There's an interesting trend. There was a very similar level of appointments in 1996-97, with 2,966 appointments. It compares almost exactly to 2012-13, with 2,949. But there was a crest of 20,087 in 2008-09.
Can you describe some of the factors that are causing those trends? Is 2012-13, obviously there are some things related to the deficit reduction action plan that are going on. Is the set of circumstances very similar to what was taking place in 1996-97 under program review then?