Brucie, why are you holding your breath?

Surely you realize by now that each and every cabinet minister has a "correspondence unit" specifically charged with holding your letter or e-mail in limbo for a very long time before doing anything with it, and then sending you a reply that begins "So sorry it took us so long to answer your letter / e-mail [strike out where applicable], goes on to say nothing much of anything, and closes with effusive thanks for writing.

Why do I know this?

Because I am an editor in the Public Affairs branch at the Department of National Defence!