Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, on behalf of the government, I'd also like to thank Mr. Flageole for his many years of service, and I wish him many years of happiness in retirement as well. Thank you.
My first set of questions will be directed towards Mr. Yeates—or his colleagues, to give him a break. First, I note that the backlog of the federal skilled workers has been reduced, as my colleague mentioned earlier, from 641,000 to 400,000. This is a 40% reduction, and that's not insignificant. I'd like to find out how you accomplished that, please.