Canadian Heritage committee  That is difficult to say. The files that are more suitably processed according to the grant mechanism, owing to their level of risk, are often those with which other tools can be used. So the delegation goes into the structure. A number of strategies can be used to speed up the process.

Canadian Heritage committee  It is a comprehensive system. The minister is part of the chain of analysis. Because of political circumstances, it must be said that there have been changes in government and ministers. The ministers' offices take some time to understand how programs operate and to know what the expectations are.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. During the course of the program renewal cycles, we do broader consultations, but we can adjust the program's guidelines annually. We consult with recipients at that time.

Canadian Heritage committee  When the programs are delivered regionally, the recipients are obviously close by and we use our regional offices to see what they are thinking. On top of that, we have annual consultation mechanisms. In the book sector, for example, we invite publishers who benefit from the Book Publishing Industry Development Program in order to determine what adjustments need to be made.

Canadian Heritage committee  Every program and even every program component will have its own service standard.

Canadian Heritage committee  We recently renewed our programs in the book, music and arts policy sectors for five years. The problem we are dealing with is a historical one. Yes, you are right, there might be other ways to proceed. Except that, to do what you propose would sometimes be complicated, because we would have to speak to Treasury Board, and change the terms and conditions.

Canadian Heritage committee  The 2% that I mentioned correspond to applications that—

Canadian Heritage committee  Perhaps I could ask one of my colleagues, Mr. Lemay. I will give you an example. A few years ago, extra funding was allocated for festivals. It was a new program. There was therefore a decision made within the budget, and summer was coming. The first year, this took time. Mr. Lemay can explain to you how much we improved the process the following year, indeed because we did not have any time constraints.

Canadian Heritage committee  There is a process. In our system, the minister is ultimately accountable. He has the authorities. It is absolutely legitimate for him, or through a system, or through his office, to put in place to look at certain issues. That is our system.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely, but what I'd like you to understand is that I think it's unfair to say that all the problems in the system, which starts from a request at the beginning, all the way to the ultimate approval from the minister, all the delays, lie at one place, at one desk. They are throughout the system.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Angus, I have to dispute your picture of saying there are 4,000 files sitting on the minister's desk. That's just not true.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's different from saying that they're sitting on his desk.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I understand. I was saying that the service standards have not yet been implemented across the board. On the other hand, we have a system that allows us to calculate the timeframes. It is not perfect, because it calculates from the moment the application is received, whether or not it is complete.

Canadian Heritage committee  I agree with you entirely. The current economic situation results in the organizations being even more vulnerable. That is why we already have an action plan. Whether we are talking about grants or multi-year agreements, the goal is to implement more acceptable service standards.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes.