Government Operations committee  Including the extra hiring, which will be investigative case analysts and a lawyer.

Government Operations committee  We're doing quite a major reassessment of our case management system, for example.

Government Operations committee  And, boy, does technology cost.

Government Operations committee  The short answer is no. The proposals we made all required legislative change for us to be able to implement. I can't do certain things if the law does not allow me to do it: for example, to increase the amount available to someone for pain and suffering from $10,000.

Government Operations committee  Yes. I believe that to be unrealistic. As I understand it, the government response dealt exclusively with the internal system, the internal whistle-blowing system, of which I'm not part. I think that was out of respect for and in deference to my status as an independent agent of Parliament.

Government Operations committee  It certainly would be difficult to say, but I think we would be looking at potentially a considerable increase, at least a 20% to 25% increase in budget. For example, if the legal advice limit was put up to $5,000, that would be relatively considerable, given that our overall budget is only $5.5 million.

Government Operations committee  Out of a team of 30 people in my office, we had until very recently three people, so 10% of my team, working exclusively on communications outreach and parliamentary relations. Last year, we distributed 9,392 communications products ourselves. Those are things that we produced.

Government Operations committee  We were delighted to have a 96% positive response to that essential question.

Government Operations committee  It's certainly a number that we keep a very close eye on. We've had to actually increase our budget forecast this year for that amount. We had underbudgeted based on previous years, so it anticipates that amount continuing. As you know, one of my proposals for changing the legislation was to increase that number.

Government Operations committee  It's a limited pool, and there are conditions within the legislation that must be met before we provide that money. I can tell you, and Brian will contradict me in public if necessary, that the majority of grants of legal fees are in the $3,000 range, as opposed to the $1,500 range, recognizing the cost of legal services and having concerns about access to justice in Canada.

Government Operations committee  I know I'll have Éric to contradict me if I'm wrong, but what we have done is based budget projections on the budget from last year, anticipating a slight increase, if you will, but we leave enough leeway in that budget item to adjust it if necessary. It's one that we do recognize has a potentially high likelihood of being changed during the course of a fiscal year.

Government Operations committee  There's no direct correlation. It's quite interesting. We tried to analyse the data to see if we could make that correlation, and I think it's safe to say that we cannot. Would you agree with me?

Government Operations committee  I could add that the $48,000 we spent this year is the highest we spent in any year since our creation.

Government Operations committee  Yes, and I can confirm that the existence of a program that provides people with access to funds to obtain legal advice is included in our letters, our standard correspondence with people, and is highlighted on our website. It's certainly something that we don't hide, if I can put it that way.

Government Operations committee  Ninety-six per cent of the people in my office described the workplace as psychologically healthy. I didn't say this, but the percentage of people who feel that they can use a recourse mechanism without fear of reprisal is also 96%. The highest number in the entire public sector was 97%, and we were 96%.