That is a very good question.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how sensitive departments were to our audits. We hand out marks so that departments can see where their weaknesses lie. Deputy ministers are competitive by nature; they do not like to get a poor grade, nor do ministers. Some reactions are rather visceral in nature. They wonder why they did not get a better mark and what they can do to improve their performance.
When it comes to our overall recommendations, it is more difficult to say. Last year I appeared before the National Defence Committee. I talked about the impact of the closure of the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean. Following that, last summer, the minister announced that the first step had been taken to restore the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean as a post-secondary institution. I cannot say that this happened because of my comment. It is difficult to gauge how much influence we have. However, the government disagrees completely with our interpretation of Part VII of the act. In fact, we have taken this matter to the courts to determine the real meaning of this amendment to the act.
We cannot really list our successes. We see that certain decisions are made, but we really do not know whether they were made as a result of something we said or did. In some departments, we do have allies, while other departments are less interested in the issue. We try to encourage our allies and to argue our case to those who are less interested. So it is difficult to give you a definitive answer to your question.