Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This was an issue that we had a lengthy discussion on at the public accounts committee. The member is right. Every other department has a 5% carry-forward opportunity. The Department of National Defence was set at $200 million back in the mid-1990s, and I think there's a general growing realization by the Auditor General, the public accounts committee and, by virtue of your question, this committee as well as to the ability to manage a $20 billion organization while not being allowed to go to $20 billion and one dollar because we would blow our appropriation. We are not allowed to have anything other than $19,800,000,000 spent, because we lose it to a lapse.
The implications really are the amount of management time that's focused on trying to land, essentially, a 747 on the back of a small aircraft carrier, to a $200 million carry-forward. It is extremely time-consuming. We do it and we do it with great diligence--and frankly, great expertise on the financial side--but it probably is not the best use of time overall in the organization. So if I were looking to the committee for a recommendation, it would certainly be to help us move that number up. We're in discussions with the Department of Finance and others on that issue.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.