Industry committee  Thank you very much. I want to thank the committee for inviting me to appear today. I'll give my remarks in English, but of course, if you have questions in French, don't hesitate to ask them after my presentation. Thank you for this opportunity to present myself to you. I t

Industry committee  Thank you for the question. It's absolutely true that the response rate in 2016 was unprecedented. It was very impressive. It's difficult for me to analyze the factors that resulted in such an impressive and significant response rate because I wasn't there at that time. However

Industry committee  Thank you very much for that question. In six weeks, obviously in the context within which I arrived in the job, if this wasn't job one, I think it was pre-job one. I've had the opportunity to meet with my counterpart at Shared Services Canada no less than probably a couple of d

Industry committee  Exactly. It's the methodology and the associated tools. For example, there is the methodology of using the mail services, of starting with a qualified workforce and of having good facilities.

Industry committee  Exactly. Canadians were given options.

Industry committee  Some psychology was also used to encourage Canadians to respond. Areas where the response rate had been low before were targeted, and a bit more information was provided after the first step.

Industry committee  I had no interaction with the Prime Minister's Office. I was called by colleagues at PCO, who essentially told me that this was something that was under consideration. I had a very brief meeting with Minister Bains. I would say it was more pro forma. After that, I was informed th

Industry committee  Yes. The communication strategy was fairly solid. The factors were therefore the methodology, a good communication plan, and the methods and options provided to Canadians.

Industry committee  As I said earlier, I wasn't there at that time. Therefore, it's difficult for me to explain the reasons for the success. Of course, many more discussions took place and there was more knowledge.

Industry committee  I haven't had any with the Prime Minister's Office. Obviously, just as any deputy minister does, I have interactions with the Privy Council Office. In terms of Minister Bains, it's been more in the conduct of the day-to-day business of moving business through cabinet and so on, a

Industry committee  As I said, when I came in, I had a full look at where our current capacity was and at how our demand was escalating, with projections in terms of additional data. As you can imagine, every new survey, every new set of data that we get from Global Affairs or anywhere else, puts in

Industry committee  They have absolutely no say. As I've said up front, we've actually put it in the agreement that they have no say in terms of what we have on there or what happens to it.

Industry committee  I would suspect not. I have no evidence to suggest that they did.

Industry committee  I started on September 19—

Industry committee  —and I can only tell you that since that point, there have been no issues that have escalated to my level, or any issues that have prevented us from providing timely and detailed access to information—