On page 162 of the English version of the budget, it is clearly stated that there may be a reduction in the size of the federal public service, so you can understand our concerns. I understand what you are saying, but the fact remains that the budget document says something different. I am not trying to set your statement against those of Mr. Flaherty, but the document is clear, and we need to understand it.
Our committee made a thorough study of the issue of demographics in the federal public service. This is not specific to Canada; the same thing applies to all other public services, whether in the Quebec nation, the Canadian provinces or even municipalities. Many people retire because they are entitled to do so, having put in their years of service, and it is difficult to recruit people to staff the resulting vacant positions. Recruitment is difficult, among other reasons, because the same phenomenon can be observed in the private sector. Given this problem, trying to reduce the size of the public service could put us in a difficult situation.