Thank you.
Mr. Flack, thank you for coming and, I think, anticipating some of the frustration that happens at this committee when a deputy minister comes and says, “We accept the recommendations of the Auditor General, but since I wasn't there for the period that the Auditor General has covered, I can't explain what happened.”
You've expressed a willingness to be responsible for the department and to be accountable to Parliament and to Canadians for the failings or shortcomings of the department.
The floor is yours. Why did this department not collect data properly? Why did it not analyze the data it used, and why can the department not quantify and explain to Canadians the relative success or failure of its programs?