Finance committee  Mr. Chair, back in 2008-09 the agency discontinued the use of private collection agencies. At that point in time it was part of our strategic review exercise. The agency took over those activities, and we were successful in generating ongoing savings for the government to the tune of $8 million ongoing, so we no longer use private collection agencies to collect on student loans.

Finance committee  That's right. In 2008-09 the discontinuation of the collection agencies generated a saving of approximately $6 million, and in 2009-10 it was approximately $11.8 million, for a total ongoing saving of $18 million. Through the leveraging of the existing collections capacity that we have in the agency--

Finance committee  There was some funding that was provided at that point in time. However, the majority of those savings we were able to achieve through leveraging the existing staff and the existing systems we have vis-à-vis our collections activities.

Finance committee  In developing the proposal, the agency actually did an apples-to-apples comparison. In other words, the previous approach that we had—i.e., using the private collection agency...which, by the way, was something that came over to the agency at the time when the government consolidated the student loans program over to the CRA.

Finance committee  It was primarily student loans. It was commission-based, so we did a thorough analysis of the methodology in calculating those commissions vis-à-vis our way of conducting business within the agency.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, the numbers that are being referenced are unfortunately an error in the printing of the actual document itself. It has been corrected since. The $3.1 billion number is actually our reference level in 2009-10, as compared to $2.9 billion in 2010-11. I understand that it has been corrected and is posted on the Treasury Board website.

Finance committee  The exact number is $121 million.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee to present the Canada Revenue Agency's 2010-11 main estimates and to answer any questions you may have. Before I begin, I would just like to take a moment to introduce the other officials that I have here with me today: Brian McCauley, Assistant Commissioner of the Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch, and Richard Case, Director General of the Finance and Administration Branch.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, as it relates to the softwood lumber amount, the amount in question that's reflected, the $429 million, is indeed a forecast of the expected payments to the provinces. However, that said, the actual payment for 2009-10 is expected to be in and around $188 million. The variance is obviously adjusted in our budget in the main estimates.

Finance committee  They are not. They were approved previously.

Finance committee  That's right.

Finance committee  That item was indeed raised at our last appearance here. We, at the time, did not have the information. We committed to getting it back to the committee, and we did so. Regarding the amounts in question for the tax-free savings account, I will quote the numbers for 2008-09 that were provided to the committee.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, as requested, I'll give you a few specific examples of what this money is being invested in for improving our financial stewardship. One of the items that Mr. O'Connor mentioned was the multiple spending authorities. More particularly, what that initiative does is allow us within the agency to basically create and track, at various levels throughout the whole organization, the various dollars and cents we receive within the $4.6 billion.

Finance committee  I'm not aware of our involvement. We may indeed be involved, but it would be our IT folks who would be able to respond to that. I'd have to say I'd like to come back to you on that one. I can't respond either way.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, if I may, let me add as well that we are part of a large community in terms of moving towards the upgrade of our administrative system. Some departments and agencies have gone ahead of us, but we're on the front line of moving forward. As part of that greater community we are sharing lessons learned as well as taking best practices from those who went ahead of us vis-à-vis the application and the implementation of the various modules that are involved in this upgrade.