Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Minister, welcome to the committee. Thank you for coming on such short notice.
Mr. Holland raised the issue with respect to the RCMP with respect to recruitment. This in not a unique problem to the RCMP. Other police forces have the same issue of retention of particularly senior officers who may be able to retire but it would be very good for the force, whether it's the RCMP or otherwise, to keep these people around because of their experience and what they can provide by way of mentoring to younger officers, etc.
One of the concerns and complaints about the fact that the increases that were negotiated with Treasury Board and put on the books last June and put in place were in part going to allow RCMP senior officers to stay, encourage them to stay for another few years, rather than giving them an incentive to leave. That's a concern there. Is the minister not concerned about this issue of retention, particularly of senior officers? And why would the government not treat them differently?