People have told me stories about how they used to put together passports using an iron and glue to stick the photograph onto the passport.
The agency has expanded and become more professional because of the fact that Canadians travel a great deal. International standards are another aspect of this. We are now required to meet ever more demanding international standards. As a result, we have greatly enhanced our professionalism.
We also went through the WHTI crisis, when the Americans brought in the requirement for Canadians to have a passport in order to enter the United States. That meant that, over a two-year period, we went from 1,500 to 3,000 employees. Our passport volume increased from 3 million to 4.8 million.
And the idea of systematically establishing a plan for activities in various areas is part and parcel of that professionalisation. It's part of the obligations that we are determined to meet. We are here to tell you that we take that very seriously and that we will do better.