Thank you very much for your question.
I will use the old age security benefits as an example. As I said earlier, the payment of these benefits represents $80 billion.
As you said, this payment is a statutory expense. It is not voted on by Parliament through an appropriation act or the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, as MP McCauley said earlier.
The payment has been increasing year over year, primarily for two reasons. First, more beneficiaries are eligible. Second, the benefits rise with inflation. If I am not mistaken, those transfer payments are the responsibility of the Department of Finance.
As I just pointed out, there are major reasons for the increase in statutory transfer payments.