Government Operations committee  But those are not explicitly under my financial accountability.

Government Operations committee  No, but I have the opportunity to involve myself in various files when they surface, such as the census matter last summer.

Government Operations committee  I do that on a policy level rather than on an operational level.

Government Operations committee  That will be starting next year. Those measures I referred to are for this year and next year. Over and above that, next year there will be--

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  But other departments, the chief statistician, for example, would have to address his reductions within his bailiwick.

Government Operations committee  In my four and a half years at Industry Canada, I have reduced quite markedly the number of consultants we use. The auto situation was a one-off. If we were going to recommend that the government spend $10 billion, I wanted to have on-the-ground capacity to do the due diligence, so we hired a substantial number of auditors to validate the restructuring plans that GM was giving us.

Government Operations committee  It's our job, as officials—and I am fortunate to have a very good cadre of senior officials—to deliver on these objectives with the resources the government, and subsequently Parliament, gives us.

Government Operations committee  They vary a great deal. Some are legislatively driven—for example, under Investment Canada, we have to offer investors a view within 45 days. We can seek a 30-day extension. We have a similar type of guideline within the Competition Bureau, in terms of how we can provide guidelines to companies that are seeking to merge.

Government Operations committee  I drew the long straw.

Government Operations committee  I don't believe so.

Government Operations committee  I have maybe 35 years.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  I am closing in on my fifth year as Deputy Minister of Industry. Before that, I had a number of jobs provincially as deputy minister. I was president of Ontario Power Generation for a couple of years.

Government Operations committee  What page are you on?