Thank you, Chair.
In my riding, I get approached, as many MPs do, by an awful lot of people who are unable to find out where their application is and how it's being processed. I explain to them that the reason they haven't heard back from CIC, or from the embassy, is that nothing has changed in their file. I usually add that if CIC had someone there to answer all the letters and requests for information that are sent in, there would be fewer people working on their files.
That sort of reflection leads me to wonder, and hopefully the people from the Auditor General's office can inform me, if not the others.... I like the idea of service standards. Who wouldn't want to make sure that Canadians and people interacting with the Government of Canada are getting the best quality of service possible? But given that there isn't any significant extra funding for improving service standards, where is the line between...? Are we actually going to improve service delivery? Will we be processing people's applications quicker by investing in service standards? That's what I'd like to hear from you all. Are we making things better for applicants? Will it be faster? Will it be more efficient for them once we have a better quality of engagement?