Government Operations committee  Indeed. Perfect. Thank you.

Government Operations committee  Actually, we enhanced the plan by 50 measures. No one—

Government Operations committee  I cannot make this commitment, because those are individual cases, medical situations, and it's not for the employer to make that determination. However, everything that was covered before remains covered. David, do you want to—

Government Operations committee  I explained that there are adjustments that have been made in the administration of the plan. It was outdated. It was not imposing the most rigorous stewardship on the public purse that it needed to, but in terms of benefits, there have been 50 enhancements.

Government Operations committee  I think my colleague can wrap that thematic up with a few answers.

Government Operations committee  I understand perfectly. If I can have at least a minute to respond to your second question about substituting generic drugs for brand-name drugs, I can give you a more thorough answer. I want to reiterate that mandatory generic drug substitution is an industry best practice. Generic drugs are approved by Health Canada and are suitable for most people.

Government Operations committee  We now have priority claims processing. If you give me the details of the person's case and their life or health is in jeopardy, their claim can be dealt with on a priority basis.

Government Operations committee  I—

Government Operations committee  I'll let my colleagues speak about what they're doing to make sure that taxpayers' money is well managed. Now, with regard to compensation, as regrettable as this has been—we're not denying that—I can assure you that every person who is owed money based on the plan parameters and the admissibility has been or will be made whole.

Government Operations committee  From a contract perspective, it was retendered with the most accurate and up-to-date standards and criteria. From a plan design perspective, when we started this negotiation with bargaining agents and the NAFR, the retirees, it was clear that having had the same administrator for many years, the best practices in the industry....

Government Operations committee  Canada Life representatives are appearing after us, so that's a question you could ask them. The number of staff has changed throughout the period. Canada Life doubled its workforce. We know the service quality is the same in French as it is in English.

Government Operations committee  Again, I think the Canada Life representatives appearing before the committee next will be able to give you a more detailed answer. I can tell you, however, that they are trained to answer eligibility questions for all the benefits. They have access to written scenarios with recommended answers.

Government Operations committee  We're covering twice the average amount.

Government Operations committee  We certainly observed that the combination of the new plan brought additional pressure on the administrator to deliver, although it had to be managed this way. However, 18 months gave a lot of opportunity to discuss and find solutions. There were dozens of committees working together to prepare for that, but we do realize that for a plan of this magnitude—1.7 million members, the largest employer benefit plan in Canada—it's a massive endeavour.

Government Operations committee  You indeed raised some of the difficulties that have been experienced in the implementation of the plans, but the two cases that you presented to us speak about exactly the two situations that were happening, the two types of changes that were happening at the same time. The first one relates more to what the plan covers.