Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Colleagues, it is good to see you again.
Ladies and gentlemen from the Privy Council Office and the Public Service Commission, welcome to your House of Commons.
Mr. Shea, it's good to see you again.
Again, I would like to address the issue of the TV debate for the next election.
I will not play a role. I said that before and I want to repeat it because I want to be honest with everybody. I really don't understand why we have to spend $5.5 million for a problem that does not exist. We will respect the will of the government. Those people have been elected democratically. I pay all my respect to you, as civil servants, who have to address the mandate—or sometimes the orders, but we will keep the word “mandate”—from the government. You do your homework and you do it quite well. I appreciate that. However, technically speaking and at the end of the day, I totally disagree with this decision.
Since we are spending $5.5 million on a problem that does not exist, we are going to try to see how that money is being spent.
Mr. Shea, you were off to a good start earlier, telling us how much of the amount you've spent so far. Could you remind us of the figures and tell us how much is being spent in the various sectors? What will be done to empty the account of the $5.5 million earmarked for this issue, which, in my opinion, probably did not deserve a cent?