Government Operations committee  No.

Government Operations committee  All I can do is look at what the judge concluded, that there wasn't sufficient evidence in his or her mind to be able to determine that the commission had made the right decision. Again, I need to get a bit more information on the case before I fully understand its implications and how we move forward from there.

Government Operations committee  This is clearly a complex issue. I have been briefed on the decision. I'm still getting my head around it. I think, at the end of the day, the judge was not convinced that we had articulated sufficiently well the reasons we felt that the public servant who wanted to be a candidate would not be able to exercise her functions in a fair and impartial way if she were to return.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Let me start, and then I'll turn to my colleague for—

Government Operations committee  Okay. In terms of equity groups in the executive category, again, we can provide that information. We actually have reduced the gaps, particularly for women. There are still some gaps—

Government Operations committee  We'll provide those separately.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question. I'll address the non-partisanship and I'll come back to diversity. On non-partisanship, there is a very strong tradition within the Public Service of Canada, but we also recognize that public servants have rights to engage in political activities, so we have to find the balance between their exercising that right, and under what conditions, versus maintaining that non-partisan nature and the confidence of the public that decisions made in the public service are not based on political considerations.

Government Operations committee  That's a very important question. Sometimes we are very focused on how we get people into our organizations. How do we recruit? That's great, but how do we keep them? How do we retain them? That is, quite often, through the richness of the conditions that we provide in the workplace and the investment in professional development.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. It's a pleasure to appear before the committee to talk about our main estimates. We will talk about our main estimates, and about the Public Service Commission's departmental plan. Allow me to introduce my team. I am joined today by Mr. Tim Pettipas, acting senior vice-president, and Mr.

Government Operations committee  As the chair has indicated, I have already provided my remarks to you. To save time, I will not address them. I know you're short of time for questions. Let me begin by reminding you of the components of the Commission's main estimates. The PSC has $83.5 million in planned spending for the current and next fiscal year.