You know, I'm an optimist. I have to be. I think there's a general understanding of how vital the mandate of PSIC is to ensuring there's trust in the federal public service. The extent to which this translates into a budget is a different story.
That's why, in my opening remarks, as you might have noted, I proposed that we move toward a more independent funding mechanism, one that is more directly aligned with Parliament, rather than through ministries. I believe this is an issue that has long been around with respect to agents of Parliament. Some of my colleagues, including the access to information commissioner, among others, have been pressing for the same sort of mechanism.
All the goodwill in the world won't work if the system is not built to work. I think the goodwill and good intentions are there, but the system to protect the appearance of independence—and also for efficiency's sake, in my view—really needs to be direct to Parliament in some way or another.