Thank you, Chair.
Minister, on the question of the estimates and the various issues related to that, one issue that's been of great concern to the committee has been the crisis at the IRB.
We're very concerned that around one-third of the positions at the IRB have been unfilled. The backlog of cases facing the IRB is increasing at about 1,000 cases a month. After some valiant efforts were made to reduce a huge backlog that existed in previous years at the IRB, it finally seemed to come under some control. But it now seems to have increased from about 19,000 up to 25,000, and it's going up by about 1,000 cases a month.
I notice in the estimates that there's actually a decrease of $4 million in money for the IRB. Does the savings come from the fact that there are so many vacancies and paycheques are therefore not going out?
What is your intention and the department's intention to solve this crisis? It directly affects so many people, people who have come to Canada because their lives are in danger or Canadians who have had problems sponsoring a relative or a family member and have taken it to an appeal. Minister, what's the plan to solve this very serious crisis?