Mr. Chair, in the longer term if we are going to have good fiscal management, of course spending has to be controlled.
This is a very large government. More than 400,000 employees work for the Government of Canada in various capacities. That was something we looked at very seriously last year. We got some good advice from within and outside government. Cabinet approved the creation of an expenditure management system, EMS.
It means that Treasury Board is looking at every government initiative, every program, every department, every agency. It has already looked at more than 15% of them, with these questions: Are we still getting value for money? Do we have a program that still fulfills the objectives for which it was created in the first place? Because programs do tend to take on a life of their own. We ask the departments what is the least important 5% of their spending that has the least priority? Does the department need it for something else that has a greater priority, and if not, can we take it back into the consolidated general revenue fund, use it for other spending priorities, use it to reduce public debt, use it to reduce taxes?
This is a strenuous exercise for the public service and for those elected--