Thank you, Minister, for being here. I'm hoping that you're settling well into your new role.
As you know, we've been seized with Phoenix because we believe that nobody should be left without pay. I'm sure you all agree with that.
In the Auditor General's report, we note that 1,200 pay advisor positions were eliminated in 2014. This elimination of institutional memory has caused some of the challenges that you talked about. The savings of $70 million that were recorded were premature, so it was ill thought through. The complexity of what Phoenix was supposed to do, the merging of 46 departments and then another 101 departments, was not realized by the previous government. We understand there is no plan B, that there's no alternative to Phoenix, and so the government will not scrap it.
Going forward, to ensure that we do have some sustainable solutions, what are some of the steps you're taking, Minister, to ensure that we have certain structural changes? If you could help us understand what's going on, it would be appreciated.
I see that Mr. Les Linklater is here, who is perhaps the Phoenix expert.