Government Operations committee  Your math seems about right if you look at $904 million, which is the cost we estimate for an extension of the CEBA loan repayment period. That seems to be, roughly speaking, the right proportion of the overall spending on professional and special services. That seems to be, roug

Government Operations committee  I'm not sure what the commissions themselves represent as part of the overall spending on professional and special services. We haven't looked at that specific component as part of the overall spending in that category.

Government Operations committee  I have no knowledge of the first nations infrastructure gap—no knowledge of a quantifiable gap. We have not looked at that specific issue ourselves. However, we did look at the water and waste-water issue a couple of years ago. We found there was no gap in the capital spending it

Government Operations committee  That could explain part of it. One example is transfers for $10‑a‑day child care, which was included in the previous budget and therefore contributed in part to higher spending. There are also other upcoming expenses, such as a national pharmacare program. We can look at all of

Government Operations committee  That's the increase in personnel spending, not in the number of FTEs, or employees. The decrease followed by an increase in 2017‑18 was probably an anomaly. There may have been one-off factors. The thing we need to pay attention to is the trend. Is it worrisome? Yes and no. It'

Government Operations committee  Yes, they are roughly in line. We looked at the Americans, and I think we also looked at other countries. However, the Americans have good historical records, because they have by far the most of these fighter jets in use, so there's good data on that. I think our costs overall a

Government Operations committee  Yes, we usually use comparable and historical data based on specifications that are proper to the ships the government is procuring and also look at the experiences of other countries.

Government Operations committee  That's a good question. It depends on which areas specifically you are looking at. For example, if it's assistance to help the unemployed, it could relieve pressure on EI, but usually provincial spending is more in the area of training, with contributions from the federal governm

Government Operations committee  It would depend on the comparability with the Canada pension plan. If an Alberta pension plan were to happen, if it were to be significantly more generous than the Canada pension plan and cost more, it could have adverse impacts on the labour market and on the competitiveness o

Government Operations committee  It certainly would be feasible, and there are a couple of ways to make the job you have easier. One example is having a budget that is tabled sooner in the cycle, so that most of the items find their way into the main estimates, as opposed to having the main estimates and shortly

Government Operations committee  If I have—

Government Operations committee  I was going to say that we take all the credit if our work elevates debates in Parliament, but none of the blame if it doesn't.

Government Operations committee  I cannot, because I still have not figured it out. We have been working on the supplementary estimates and the fall economic statement. We haven't gotten to that point. Unless Kaitlyn or Jill know more, I certainly cannot explain that specific area.

Government Operations committee  Can you...?

Government Operations committee  I think the accrual accounting method is much better. It's a better reflection of the actual flows and responsibilities, financial obligations and revenues of the federal government, but it's confusing in the sense that it does not always reflect the cash needs of the federal gov