Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Wernick, thank you for being here with us this afternoon. We are pleased to see you here. It is important for us to hear your testimony. As my colleague Ms. Mendès said, we are pleased that you accepted our invitation on such short notice.
I would like first to respond to what our colleague Mr. Christopherson said. My colleagues know that I spent close to 17 years in various departments in the federal public service. So I can attest first-hand to the fact that many public servants work extremely hard, are committed and dedicated, and offer important services to people right across Canada. There are many examples of success in the public service.
I am thinking for instance about the Public Service Pension Centre in Shediac, which successfully completed a major modernization initiative in recent years.
I am also thinking of the largest documentary imagery centre, the Digital Imagery Research and Development Centre, in Matane. It was in fact developed by public servants who are dedicated to serving Canadians and other departments.
I am also thinking of the 40,000 Syrian refugees we welcomed recently, thanks to a department and public servants who were able to turn on a dime and do the important job they were given.
That said, I also fell over backwards when I saw the Auditor General's report and the message he sent us. This important message shook us and shook the public service and its management. I would even say it made them angry. The Auditor General is not the only one to say there are problems. Obviously, it is not black or white. There is something in between. Clearly, there are problems in the public service. As you pointed out, with 260,000 public servants, of course not everything is perfect.
I simply wanted to point that out. I was reading something by Donald Savoie recently, someone you are no doubt very familiar with. He was also quite blunt. I would like to hear your thoughts on what he said. I will read it out in English since it was written in English:
...the public service is now bogged down by rules, oversight and a controlling [centre] that it has “lost its way” and ability to manage....“they have learned the art of delegating up to PMO and PCO” rather than down to the front-line workers, as they did in the 1970s and 1980s, to get things done.
So I would like to hear your thoughts about how we have tackled certain problems in the public service and about potential solutions. As I said, it is not black and white. There is something in between.
You produced an annual report that is very positive on the whole. I know, however, that you are aware of problems that should be addressed and I would like to hear your thoughts on that.