One thing I would have to do when in the position is study the data. I've looked at the annual report, and yes, there are some trends there. I'm not sure we've seen a significant increase in casual employment, for example, but we can see that a large proportion of the new entries in the public service in the last year were hired in casual employment positions, so I'd like to look at that.
We also hire a large number of students every year. The advantage of using student programs is that once you're in as a student, any department in the government or agency can bridge you into full-time employment once you graduate, and that makes it a lot easier for managers. You develop a relationship with a student. You like what they offer. You see the potential, and therefore after graduation...in fact you can even provide a letter of offer before they graduate that is conditional on graduation. I think we can do more in that area, and it does bring in people in permanent positions.
I will have to look at the information in that area to see. I know that a large number of Canadians apply for positions on an annual basis, so there's no doubt in my mind there is interest in jobs in the public service, but I know that quite often even our young people become discouraged, because six months or a year after applying, they still haven't heard. They don't know what the status is. That's unacceptable. When we're trying to get the best and the brightest to join us, we can't leave them hanging for six or 12 months.