Thank you, Chair.
I really appreciate all of the witnesses, and I want to verify the fact that we deeply appreciate two things—I do—and that is the work of those who are serving our veterans within the public service for VAC. There is no question of our sense of your commitment and your efforts, so thank you so much.
Of course, the challenges we are facing, as Mr. Walbourne said, are systemic and they are processing issues. There's no reason why it can't be dealt with. It just takes the will.
First of all, I would like to ask our Parliamentary Budget Officer this. You've been challenged in your report by the deputy minister, indicating that your metrics, I guess, and your methods of coming to your numbers in regard to the backlog were incorrect. I would like a quick statement from you on that, in terms of their perspective on where that backlog is as compared to yours, and the ability to reduce it, to remove it.