Thank you for your question, Ms. Demers. It definitely touches on a number of rather complex areas. I must say that I would have liked to invite my colleague who wrote the report on pensions to join us, and I will not go into a great deal of detail about the conclusions of the report, because they are complicated and that is not really my area of expertise.
However, I would like to talk to you about the federal budget. It is true that when we looked at it, we saw that, like all budgets, it was a statement of the federal government's policies at a particular point in time. We are therefore looking at it on the basis of this point in time and the positions put forward then.
We were in favour of the budget, and gave it a passing mark, because we thought at that time there were a number of measures that could meet the needs of a large percentage of the population. Without being partisan in any way, I would say that this was a conservative budget.
When we looked at the budget at the time, we said that the measures it introduced for small businesses and families were acceptable. We had no criticism of the budget. This was all done in the context of reasonable and responsible financial policies. If there is a responsible financial context, investment is possible.
When we look at the issue today, we would be prepared to put forward some more specific measures in the next round of pre-budget consultations to assist women entrepreneurs, because you were quite right when you spoke about the precarious nature of women's jobs.
In my brief presentation, a number of points slipped in. Perhaps I could take one specific aspect. For example, the figures show that women are almost the drivers of small and medium-sized business, and that small business creates jobs. Let us look at what steps could be taken to help these women employers hire other women and help them at least deal with the issue of precarious employment, particularly for immigrant women or women returning to the labour market for all sorts of reasons. At the same time, let us look at what could be done in the area of employment insurance, for example, to help women entrepreneurs who also have to look after aging parents or children.
So, in six months, when we are preparing our next pre-budget presentation, we could look at a broader aspect of the problem. With this in mind, the committee's recommendations will definitely help us develop our positions.