Thank you very much for your presentation.
I also understand that we consume a lot of electricity, especially in Quebec, as you say, since electricity is abundant there. We tend to consume more electricity because the rates are low. And we do consume more. A lot of efforts have been made both at the federal level and in Quebec or in other provinces to make citizens aware of the fact that they must reduce their consumption; that is the purpose of all of the programs that offer incentives to citizens to encourage them to consume less energy.
I am a member of the committee and sometimes I have trouble getting my bearings. I try to understand how the new programs work as compared to the old ones, and I receive a lot of calls from citizens everywhere in Quebec. They are wondering about the transition from one program to the next. I would like to take advantage of your presence here to ask you to explain to me how the transition works between two programs that are very similar. What about the citizens?
I would like to ask another question of Mr. Wallace or Ms. Buckley. In 2007, Hydro-Québec will be spending $245 million in order to reduce energy consumption, $105 million of which will find its way into the pockets of Quebeckers. That is twice as much as in 2006. I am curious about the objectives of your energy efficiency programs. I think you referred to this on page 27. Under the former government, the programs were about the same. The government said that these programs were not sufficiently productive, that they would be assessed and that new ones would be created. This is what we now have before us.
I would like you to provide us with your assessment indicators. At the end of 2007, what indicator will allow us to really determine whether the programs are reaching the energy efficiency objectives? How will we, as parliamentarians, be able to evaluate whether these programs have really reached their objectives? I imagine that you have an evaluation grid that will allow us to see whether that is the case. Could Mr. Wallace or Ms. Buckley answer my question?