Finance committee  Mr. Chair, in discussions with the Treasury Board Secretariat it was determined that it would be appropriate for us to do so from a transparency perspective to Parliament. So we're pursuing that.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, we're not predicting any reductions in staff at the agency. We have a really strong track record in the agency of retaining our staff, qualified staff and skilled staff. There is no intention to reduce staff at this point.

Finance committee  We have an attrition rate of approximately 5% in the agency. That's probably a reflection of what you're seeing. The other element that I would like to flag is that the area of internal services is probably one of the areas where there is an increase, and that's basically becau

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, as I said earlier, we, at the Canada Revenue Agency, want to work very closely with staff at the Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to produce more accurate figures. We have already entered into discussions with them, an

Finance committee  That's right. So it's not an increase in our authorities. It's really moving the $136 million from our operating vote into our dedicated capital expenditures, which would be spent on IT systems and projects.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, when we made the proposal and subsequently accepted in terms of taking responsibility for the student loan programs, there were specific targets that were given to us as an agency vis-à-vis the subsequent years further to that decision since 2008. In all of those years

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, I will ask my colleague, Mr. McCauley, to answer that.

Finance committee  Yes. And the payment went from $278 per month to $286 per month.

Finance committee  I think it's worth noting that the number that's reflected, the $479 million, is indeed a projection for 2010-11. It's not the amount of actual payments that have gone out. There is an increase in the projection by $50 million, but it should also be noted that last year's payment

Finance committee  It was $180 million in 2008-09. We don't have the numbers yet for 2009-10.

Finance committee  Yes. The $180 million, that was actually paid out to the provinces, was based on a projection at that point in time of $429 million, hence the $50 million increase. So we--

Finance committee  It was $479 million.

Finance committee  Well, I think that's the need for us to work with our good colleagues in the departments of finance and foreign affairs to--

Finance committee  The amount in question is actually $286 per month, per child, and there has been an increase in the number of children receiving this allowance. It has gone from 53,844, more or less, to a 2010-11 projected number of 54,970.

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 tun