Madam Minister, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Yves Giroux, told a Senate committee last Tuesday that what happened with passports was a real disaster and that departments often have trouble evaluating themselves after that kind of thing. It is easier to say that the crisis is over, that things were sorted out, that things are going more smoothly now and that the demand is being met.
You have to do a self-evaluation of the crisis, though, because it was not a normal situation. I have heard you time and again, because you were also questioned by the media. They asked what mark you would give yourself for how you managed the crisis.
Your management did not make any sense. Where were you when people were lining up and waiting? Where were you during question period, after you tried your numbers system, which was also a fiasco?
Our constituency offices were swamped. We had to hire extra staff and work 24/7 to respond to the requests we received.
This was unprecedented because of poor management. Do you acknowledge that?