Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, Ms. Ryan, congratulations on your appointment. I look forward to meeting you. I have many report proposals to present to you, of course.
I also want to thank Mr. Jacques for the effective work he has done in such a short time.
First, I'll speak briefly about the appointment process. As you surely know, here at the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, we had established a monitoring group made up of three members from different parties to make the role of the Parliamentary Budget Officer as impartial as possible. The idea was to follow a hiring process before making a recommendation. As you surely know, not only did that not happen, but there was no consultation at all, at least not with us. Perhaps the Conservatives will say otherwise.
There are two fundamental positions here in this arena: the Auditor General and the Parliamentary Budget Officer. I have concerns about impartiality.
Ms. Ryan, do you feel that you have the independence you need to analyze the budget freely? I'm truly concerned.