Public Accounts committee  With respect to PeopleSoft 8.9, it's the new common standard across government. When I was in Agriculture, we were implementing it there, and it must be implemented there by now. I don't know who else is doing it, but it's the common standard.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, it is, but the frequency of people leaving the foreign service to work for private companies in those sorts of situations has varied over time and usually sometimes has to do with the terms and conditions of service inside the government. For instance, we had a high attritio

Public Accounts committee  I'm not sure what you mean by a checklist.

Public Accounts committee  I can assure you that is what the system does. The process starts with a job description and then, through a competitive process that's posted in public, with interviews and so on, ensures that the individuals who are looked at meet that profile; so there's a check. Then they're

Public Accounts committee  No. I believe that the department went through a turbulent time when it was divided in two, as you mentioned. The employees of the department do not want to go through that again. Our plan is based on the assumption that the department will remain as it is now.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, 5,000.

Public Accounts committee  I missed the first part of the question. I do not know. We have nearly 5,000 locally engaged employees and the salary budget—

Public Accounts committee  I think I would characterize them as a mix--a mix of the first kind, which, as you say, are good ones. They are the ones where you provide promising officers an opportunity to perform at a higher level to see how they can perform, to be exposed to a mentor, or something like that

Public Accounts committee  I'd have to look at the figures on the second question. Michael, maybe you could tell me what those figures are. In the original plan—this goes back to when the plan was being developed—34 was the number we thought was realistic. Obviously it is not. So in light of the Auditor G

Public Accounts committee  Well, I can't speak for the seven or eight years. Let me just comment. I think that what we have here from the Auditor General is an extremely useful evaluation and criticism of our system inside the department. It has provided us with a valuable piece of advice about what we n

Public Accounts committee  First of all, I think that senior managers such as deputy ministers will take audit reports very seriously. I hope the report card we have provided today indicates that we have taken the last report very seriously. Second, as the Auditor General has said, the ability of deputie

Public Accounts committee  Actually, you're making a very good suggestion in the course of your question, because we are in the process of designing our recruitment program for the autumn, which I would certainly like to see have much broader advertisements, such as the kind you are referring to, so that w

Public Accounts committee  Not really. Again, I'd like to thank the committee for its interest in this very important matter. We are going to be moving forward with our transformation agenda, and this will feature as an important part of it. Thank you.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We appreciate the invitation to appear before the committee today to discuss the consular services provided to Canadians by the Government of Canada and, in my case certainly, by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Today

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, I don't think I would say we brief the Clerk of the Privy Council on all matters. We brief as necessary. Part of the role of a public servant in dealing with superiors is to know what to brief, and if there is a matter that I think is—