If so, why are we cutting 30 % of its budget?
And I would go even further. I understand that you found that some people had done good work, but there is a fact we have to contend with: 30 % less next year.
My question is for Ms. Hunter and Mr. LePage.
We may find that it is good for a region, however, how come ACOA is not here to speak to these cuts? Why is it that FedNor isn't either? Why isn't Western Diversification Canada not here either to discuss the cutbacks that it is facing?
In our regions and in my region, New Brunswick, in the Atlantic provinces, we were hit by these cuts. If departmental representatives are not here before us today, it is because the government actually tried to avoid having certain questions asked.
My question is for all three of you, Ms. Hunter, Ms. Neamtan and Mr. LePage. Were you consulted before the announcement was made that $40 million would be cut? Forty million dollars out of $132 million is exactly 30 % of the budget.
First off, were you consulted? Second, did the government fulfill its obligations throughout this country from coast to coast to coast, by carrying out such cutbacks?