Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for coming out this morning. I appreciate your patience; the committee had deliberations earlier on.
My question pertains to the key objective of this meeting, which is really the auditing of the departmental financial statements. My question is to the Auditor General's office.
Just to set the context so that people understand why this discussion is important, can you from your position explain the value to Canadian taxpayers and the value in general of having these departmental financial statements prepared for audit purposes, internal control, and other measures?