We discussed the issue with my colleague from Treasury Board. Some meetings were held with the Chief Statistician and it was suggested that he take a serious look at what could be done this year.
It is important to note that this year's expenditures by Statistics Canada are somewhat unusual because it is a census year. They have more expenses for this year. I think that their annual budget is between $400 and $450 million, including $115 million which is mostly related to the census. That is only for this year. A $15 million cutback in a regular year would be slightly higher than 3 per cent.
It should also be noted that a large part of their expenditures—almost 75 per cent—are for employee salaries. So, even if the government had decided to cut back on that part of the expenses, not much would have been saved this year, because there are union agreements, contracts and periods during which this amount could not have been saved in the 2006 budget, because half the year had already elapsed.