I used to work in event planning. I organized the artistic programming for all events in the national capital—be it Canada Day, Winterlude or other events. When someone really wants to grow their business, they often need specialized support. When you create a company in the area of high technology, food service, plumbing, carpentry or forestry, you sometimes need specialized technical assistance in that field. I was in charge of event planning and festivals, but I did not have that kind of expertise, and I could not manage growth.
We also need that kind of support in our communities. I live in a village. In Plantagenet, I see that a third, if not almost half, of the village is receiving social assistance or employment insurance benefits. We have to find ways to create jobs for those marginalized people, based on the kind of employment available in our region. Those people do not necessarily have a vehicle to travel to the big city or elsewhere. They have to find a job in their area. If we find more inclusive ways to create employment for them, those people will also be buying locally. They live in those villages, and they don't want to go to Ottawa or Toronto to shop. They want to do that in Plantagenet, Alfred or Casselman. However, we are lacking the means to help them. Economic growth is necessary to achieving that, and it must be targeted on all fronts.
The government has made some progress by simplifying certain things, but the economic environment requires more to be done. We can work on this together. We are on the ground to study the issue. I invite you to look at my recommendations, among others.
Certain things could be done differently, and that approach may not always be more expensive. Making a small change to one of your policies or programs would suffice. That would have a greater impact on the economic development and growth of our villages and neighbourhoods.