Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I think this sometimes lies at the heart of the problem with the government, which is that there seems to be a sense that independent officers of Parliament, whether the public complaints commissioner for the RCMP or, in your case, the ombudsman for victims, should be cheerleaders-in-chief and not dare criticize the government. I think it's entirely appropriate that an ombudsman both lauds what he agrees with and criticizes what he disagrees with. It strikes me as bizarre that this would be criticized.
As we're delving a little bit into the debate on Bill C-391, the long-gun registry bill, I can't resist asking the question, because the question was initially about setting up the cost of that registry. The Auditor General told us in 2006 that the cost of the long-gun registry would be $3 million a year, and that the RCMP said they would save $2.9 million by cutting it. We also know that we had the deputy commissioner of the RCMP in front of this committee saying that it was essential to doing his job.
So would you think that $2.9 million that would be saved would be an intelligent cut for the government to make?