This won't really be a question; it will just be some observations.
I want to thank Mr. Akrouche and ITAC. As Mr. Leduc acknowledged, we've had many an interesting conversation over the past little while. I've spent an enormous amount of time on IT modernization and procurement in Canada's public service. An awful lot of things occur to me. An awful a lot of things have to do with—and I say this in the most non-partisan way possible—the maturity of governments and oppositions and their ability to tolerate failure, including the ability of oppositions not to engage in “gotcha” tactics and the ability of governments to take calculated risks.
I am intrigued by the whole movement toward agile procurement. I know the government, as in many things, is several years behind in this. Still, I've had interesting conversations about some successes, not only in the IT community but also in the enterprise community. I don't know that it applies to every possible procurement, but I do know that it is a way to ensure that we have the best and the brightest working on specific segments of issues. I also know that it's a way to get more SMEs and more innovators involved in the process.
I now have to apologize for leaving you no time to comment on this. If in a further segment you wish to take this up, you're more than welcome to. I'll finish how I started. It's an ongoing dialogue, and this is a very important subject for this committee to be considering.
Thank you very much.