Currently, my office receives enough funding to handle about 4,400 complaints annually. In the past few years, we've received about 8,000 complaints per year. I'm glad to report that the number of complaints dropped this year. For the first time, we've been able to tackle some of the backlog, which had been growing every year.
I definitely do not have the funding I need to keep reducing the backlog and dealing with the complaints we receive every year. The number of complaints varies from year to year, which is why we asked for an independent funding mechanism. Such a model would ensure that my office receives funding commensurate with demand.
Currently, however, we have to submit requests under the federal government's existing system.