Here it is: $939 million in operating costs. Most people who run their business would ask why that is so high.
I guess that's where being a businessman comes in, Phil. You're a businessman.
It seems like it's out of proportion because we have a budget of $3.4 billion, and you're arguing that it's taking a billion dollars to manage, which doesn't make any sense. The truth is that it doesn't make any sense and here's why: we are one of the few government departments--if not the only one--that have to measure purchases and benefits that we provide to our clients within that operating budget. That doesn't make any sense.
I've told the department, but of course the department has taken their instructions from Treasury Board. What we are doing is that many of the benefits that actually go directly to our clients are included in the operating budget. I'll get a list here in legible handwriting that I can read; I can never read my own writing.
But the truth is, that's the reason for it: out of that $939 million, $650 million, two-thirds of it, is actually for benefits that go to the clients we serve. Some of the health benefits, such as the hearing aids, eye treatment, and prescription drugs, are all included in that $650 million, which shows up here as operating expenditures. I don't like the way they do that, because it makes it look like we're not good managers. It looks like we're top heavy, if you will, which is not the case.