Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This meeting is televised. I want to provide some context for Canadians before I start my questions, Mr. Ricard.
I want to remind my learned colleague Steven Blaney that the Harper government, of which he was a member, asked the Office of the Auditor General at the time to make budget cuts and to handle the constraints of a reduced budget.
That's my understanding of what you told us, Mr. Ricard. You made these budget cuts and, above all, you scaled back your audit activities under the previous government. You also told us that, after accepting this reduction in your activities in 2011 for various valid reasons, your initial request was for a 31% increase in your budget, a significant increase that you hadn't planned.
Have I fully understood and summarized the situation?