Thank you very much.
I'm glad to have the opportunity to speak. It's been a busy day.
I'd like to, first of all, thank the deputy and staff for their hard work through this pandemic. I know that working remotely when COVID hit us was very challenging, but in a very short period of time you were able to get 90% of the staff working remotely, equipped and capable of delivering. I know we were delivering at par or better, but I also realize there were fewer applications as well during a certain amount of time.
I also appreciate all the briefing I get, because it can be tough out there, but you guys are handling it quite well. I'm happy for that, and thank you.
During the first session, the minister shared something I thought we should come back to. We've seen the backlog move from 23,000 down to 15,000, which, if I do my calculation correctly, is about a 30% to 35% drop. I realize there may be fewer applicants throughout this process because of timing and during COVID and all, but those are really good numbers. I'd really appreciate it if you could share with Canadians some of the key things you've noticed—the areas in your plan that are really making a difference right now in helping us move the backlog forward.