I wouldn't be able to answer questions on the rationale. Firstly, I wasn't there, and it was a decision of the government of the day, so it's a policy decision.
But what was lost? There were no programs lost. The reduction in the regional offices came at the same time as a reconfiguration of the terms and conditions. The government's objective was to reach out and help women directly in the communities. So there was training of the employees that took place simultaneously on the new terms and conditions that had been developed.
With the reduction in the office locations, the office developed, at the time, very proactive training information sessions across the country to be able to go to different locations, more so than the 16 that would have been covered by the region.