Thank you.
Thank you very much, Chair.
I want to take this time to thank the deputy minister and the entire procurement team for really stepping up during those early days of the pandemic. When the world was in a health crisis never before seen in 100 years, all hands were on deck to make sure that we first had the PPE. I remember how desperate people were to obtain that protection equipment. We were also ensuring that we were collecting the right information to adequately quarantine people until such time as we got the vaccines. We heard from the deputy auditor general on how those vaccines were obtained. They were distributed across the country and lives were saved. Again, thank you very much to the procurement team.
I think it's fair to say that a general common thread in most of the recommendations we are hearing from the procurement ombudsman and the AG when it comes to PSPC is for you to play a greater oversight role in contracting by client departments. This is something that I believe your department accepts. We have heard testimony that you are doing so.
Generally speaking, delegating authorities to other departments and public servants is meant to make the process more efficient and reduce bottlenecks. We did hear from the Auditor General yesterday that she was especially concerned about access by smaller suppliers. We can think of indigenous suppliers to a system that may become over-regulated. Obviously, though, there needs to be accountability.
I wonder if you can speak a bit from your perspective to find the balance between oversight and efficiency, as both are obviously very important.