Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank the Auditor General and his team for the excellent report they have done on various departments.
I would like to ask the Auditor General about Phoenix. All project management problems related to Phoenix can be traced, in my opinion, to one single decision: that is in your paragraph 1.32. You mentioned that in the spring of 2012, after the planning phase of Phoenix, IBM told Public Services and Procurement Canada that Phoenix would cost $274 million to build and implement. You also mentioned that the Treasury Board had approved only $155 million in 2009. The approved amount was approximately only 55% of the expected cost to build and implement Phoenix. You also mentioned that Public Services and Procurement Canada did not consider asking the Treasury Board for more money to build and implement Phoenix.
If you ask me, all the complex problems that are associated with this big, complex project are due to this one single thing.
I would like to focus on that and ask: Who are the people who made the decision not to ask Treasury Board for the full required amount?