Thank you, Madam Chair.
Hello, Mr. Brison. It is always a pleasure to welcome you to the committee.
As you know, I am also a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and we are eagerly awaiting the auditor general's report, to be released in the fall.
My riding of Châteauguay—Lacolle is not known for having a lot of federal employees. That said, a surprising number of people have told me they were let go under the previous government and have been called back to deal with this problem. Everyone is getting down to work to try to sort this problem out.
My question, which is also a concern to my fellow citizens, pertains to the Canada child benefit. I note that the Main Estimates include a change in statutory spending, that is, a reduction in the universal child care benefit. That was the old program. Our government has in fact replaced it with the Canada child benefit to put more money in the hands of the families that need it. I am talking about the real difference between fiscal measures and statutory measures.
Can you explain this change?
Could you explain more clearly to parliamentarians how this change in statutory spending can be compared to the fiscal measures that implement the Canada child benefit?