Industry committee  I believe the minister in his various remarks has noted the importance of broadband to a digital economy.

Industry committee  They were approved in September 2010.

Industry committee  That would be a good idea.

Industry committee  Yes, they each have their own CFO. They each have their own organizations. There are 5,000 people at the NRC.

Industry committee  Yes.

Industry committee  When the government announced the broadband program in the budget of 2009, the first thing we had to do was serious mapping, just to document who had what. That took a certain amount of time to properly capture where existing levels of service were. This was doubly complicated because the private sector was continuing to do its own expansion, so we constantly had to update our maps.

Industry committee  That is an excellent question. I will get the president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to write back to you through the committee.

Industry committee  The department.

Industry committee  Plus I have a general—

Industry committee  The aspect of main estimates, supplementaries (A), (B), and (C) has been around for a few decades, if not half-centuries. The problem you're raising is one that goes fundamentally to how the government keeps its books, how it operates. We are but loyal soldiers of the rules that have been worked out over time between Treasury Board, the Auditor General, and the public accounts people in regard to disclosure, constraints, maintaining a balance.

Industry committee  What page?

Industry committee  That's all in, including the portfolio.

Industry committee  If I had control over the $7 billion, that would probably be possible. But a lot of those, if you look carefully, are referred to as the portfolio. For example, the Space Agency is there, which has its own deputy minister; the National Research Council has its own president, who has the same ranking as a deputy minister and is accountable for those funds.

Industry committee  I can tell you how much is in the department. The key is not necessarily statutory, as per the department; it's the fact that the spending objects are placed in other departments within the broad Industry Canada portfolio.

Industry committee  The government announced as part of the economic action plan that about $225 million would be spent on improving broadband. I think we have rolled out to date something close to $100 million in our work and initiatives. We are in the process of continuing to negotiate contribution agreements with other proponents, and we will reprofile some to next year because these things take a bit of time to properly do.