Government Operations committee  I'd be happy to do that. I'd be happy as well, once we have the corporate plan tabled in the House for the next five years, to come back to the committee and go over the projections as we now see them, plus the changes we are going to incorporate into our estimates of costs as a result of the changes we plan to make to reduce costs.

Government Operations committee  The increase is largely explained by the big increase in the inventories of Canadian circulation coinage. There's been a very significant increase and demand for circulation coins in the Canadian economy—unexpected by most observers, but still it's there. To maintain supply to the economy as those coins are demanded by financial institutions, we've had to increase our inventory of them.

Government Operations committee  I think the jump in 2005 and the continuing increase are largely a result of the expansion of the plating facility in Winnipeg. This is the process that allows us to make coins from steel blanks, using plating technology to produce coins at a relatively low cost. We expanded the production capacities in Winnipeg to plate coins, which turned out to be a good decision—even better than we thought at the time, because of the large increase in demand for Canadian circulation coinage and a very substantial run-up in the cost of base metals, such as copper, nickel, and so on, used in the production of coinage.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, sir. I think it goes to a broader problem that we've identified at the Mint. It is true that our revenues are growing considerably, and we indeed expect them to continue to grow in 2007. The problem we have identified is that our costs are also growing, and they're growing faster.

Government Operations committee  No, we've set targets for the crown corporation.

Government Operations committee  Yes. Every year we prepare a corporate plan that is mandated under the Financial Administration Act. Within that corporate plan, it provides for five-year forecasts. The credibility of the forecast diminishes with time, as all forecasts do, but it will have targets for 2007, 2008, and through to 2011.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I have with me Richard Neville, who is our chief financial officer and known to a number of people on the committee as well, as well as Marguerite Nadeau, who is our vice-president and general counsel at the Royal Canadian Mint. Welcome, everyone.