Good afternoon, minister. We are pleased to have you with us today. We'll be able to ask you some questions that go beyond votes.
My first question concerns acquisition cards. The Auditor General has pointed the finger at a number of departments, including Health, over the excessive use of acquisition cards enabling various officials to make purchases for their departments. In 15 years, the number of purchases has increased from 2,000 to 35,600, which represents expenditures of $600 million, compared to $200 to $300 million 15 years ago. The same is true for travel cards: $30 million in six years. There's been a significant increase.
Minister, what do you intend to do about this? We say that the rules have to be obeyed, but it's not necessary to add new ones. We're also saying that certain directives are obsolete. Cards are used to make costly purchases, limits are too high, there is talk about names of ships or units, which runs against the Treasury Board policy.
Have you given your department instructions to change this way of doing things? Of the $600 million attributed to the Health Department's various expenditures, for what sum has the Auditor General pointed the finger at the department? I know that two other departments have also been singled out.