Yes, I'm well aware of that. I'm sure the committee is familiar with the Pension Act. The fact is that there are mandatory increases that have nothing to do with government. Whatever government sits, those spending increases will occur, and in fact it was, I believe, in 2007 that there was a 7% mandatory increase for all veterans' benefits, precisely because the CPI wasn't keeping pace with the equivalent in the public service for employees' salaries.
My calculations are that probably half of that $1.9 billion was actually a mandatory increase that no committee or sitting government should be taking any credit for. I mean no disrespect to you, but I think this is another piece of misinformation that the bureaucrats are providing you in taking credit for something that's not really their due.