Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I, too, would like to thank our witnesses for being here this afternoon.
I would have liked the Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec) to be here today. Under the circumstances, I will address my questions to Mr. McKenzie.
My question relates to the Community Adjustment Fund. I believe this program is in its second year. Funding of $1 billion was announced for the country as a whole, including about $217 million for Quebec. It has been reported in the media that half of the funding went to ridings held by Conservative MPs—in other words, government members. I would like to know what the process is with respect to the companies and applications.
If a recommendation is negative, does the minister have the discretion to ignore that recommendation?