Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to the officials.
First of all, I want you to know that the somewhat negative tone of some of my questions to the minister doesn't change the fact that I do recognize you're working very hard in the department to improve services.
I guess my difference with him is mainly on the interpretation of certain statistics. My first question has to do with that. He said that in 2012 Canada was admitting a record high number of parents and grandparents. But that is not true, because the department's own statistics show that the number admitted in 2012 was 21,815, and in 2002 it was 22,502.
I think what the minister was referring to was the upper end of the range for admissions, which was 25,000. That may well have been a record high, but that's a high end of the range; that's not an actual number. What is important is the actual numbers admitted.
I'd ask you to comment on that point.