Excuse me, please.
Evidence of meeting #19 for Status of Women in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bdc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #19 for Status of Women in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bdc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Djaouida Sellah NDP Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Can you tell me where the documents are that we can use to formulate our questions, since we have nothing in front of us? Some of the witnesses were interrupted because we were supposed to have the documents to be able to prepare questions. Even if the documents are in English, it would be helpful if we could have them ahead of time, so that this does not happen again.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Hélène LeBlanc
As soon as the documents are available in both languages, they are automatically distributed to committee members. When they are available in only one of the two official languages, they are not distributed.
As I mentioned, Mrs. Sellah, given that there was so much information and that some of the documents had not yet been translated before our meeting, we will have them translated and they will be distributed to committee members at a later date so they can refer to them.
For now, however, you will have to ask questions based on the oral testimony given. Does that answer your question?
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Djaouida Sellah NDP Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Yes, but I find it unfortunate that we did not have time to hear the last three testimonies.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Hélène LeBlanc
As you know, I had an extremely difficult task, since I too was listening attentively. Given that Ms. Fournier and a few of the witnesses had already mentioned some points and did not have time to elaborate on them, I would invite you to ask questions that give them the opportunity to tell us more.
We will begin with Mrs. Truppe, who has the floor for seven minutes.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
I'd like to welcome everyone. I think this is the largest group we've had, certainly in the last year and even in the last study we've done. I'll get right to it, because I have so many questions that I want to ask.
I'll start with Dr. Konrad. Welcome. The business school is in my riding of London North Centre. I haven't had the opportunity to meet you, so it's nice to meet you.
I think you said there are a lot of people who associate a lot of unconscious biases against women, that men are associated with success and women with failure. How do you think we could change that mindset?
4:15 p.m.
Professor, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Changing those kinds of mindsets is possible. It's been demonstrated that if people are presented with positive images of successful women, that will help people to have a positive association between women and leadership success. So, having more women in responsible positions, more women MPs, more women heads of universities, and more women on boards of directors, and having those women available in media and other events linking to younger women will help young women see themselves in those roles. It does make a difference. That has been demonstrated.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
I agree with that because, if they keep seeing men in certain roles and they're not seeing women, then they're not growing up thinking they can do that job, too. I do think that's very important.
I know you serve on several boards. I think one of them is the Women's Executive Network. Is that correct? Do you serve on that still?
4:15 p.m.
Professor, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
I do not.
4:15 p.m.
Professor, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
I was on the advisory board for a few years, and I did have the honour of selecting Canada's top 100 most powerful women for a couple of years, as well. That was a wonderful experience.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Yes, I bet it was.
What kind of support do networks like the Women's Executive Network offer women in business? Why would it be important to women's prosperity and success?
4:15 p.m.
Professor, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
The Women's Executive Network, WXN, provides several types of support.
One type is the networking events, so that women business leaders can connect with each other, hence building client-customer relationships as well as mentoring and sponsorship relationships with each other, both of which have been demonstrated to be essential for business growth and for women's career growth.
Another service they provide is board readiness training and other types of business skill training for women, so that women who wish to change careers, for example, or to return to their career after some time with family are able to have a quicker on-ramp back to the career or into a new career.
Those are important things, and so is the recognition they provide. The recognition of Canada's top 100 also puts those images forward where people can say that, yes, women are effective and powerful leaders in Canada.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Right, thank you.
We feel that mentorship is very important as well. In your opinion, are there a lot of opportunities for women to mentor other women, or do you find that difficult? Are they being mentored?
4:20 p.m.
Professor, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
I find that there are lots of opportunities for women to mentor other women. Here at Ivey, I teach a class in women in leadership with women who are in their early twenties. I find that our Ivey alums are very interested in connecting with the students. Each of the students in my class—I tend to have 70 students each year—connects with two or three Ivey alums. We make connections very formally that way with 200 alums.
Really I find that senior leaders are very interested in this field. They know that talent is scarce and that they have to compete for it, so if they can make an earlier connection with our highly qualified young women during their university years, they jump on the opportunity to do so. I know that the young women learn a lot from it and they really appreciate it.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Thank you.
The next question is for Madam Gale.
We're looking, as we mentioned earlier, to increase economic prosperity and leadership for women. Would you say that offering finance and advice encourages more women to enter the business world? I'm kind of curious. Is it difficult for women to get funds? Is it any different from men? Is it more difficult or easier for men to get funds or financial help from the bank than it is for women?
4:20 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Financing and Consulting, Atlantic, Business Development Bank of Canada
Certainly, what we're seeing is that the external challenges are similar for both men and women. According to a Statistics Canada survey on small and medium-sized enterprises, it states that the requests and approval rates are similar for both men and women. I don't have that information from the BDC perspective, but I would assume that it is in line with that.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
I don't know how quick of an answer you can give to this, but generally, what are the main things you look for in order to finance a small business if someone doesn't have any experience but they have this great idea in their mind?
4:20 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Financing and Consulting, Atlantic, Business Development Bank of Canada
There are usually four things that I think I learned on my first day with the bank 15 years ago. We always look at the management, the earnings, security, and investment.
We look at the management, whether it's a female or male applicant, in terms of what their expertise is, where they come from, what they are bringing to the table. We look at the past earnings of the business, or the potential earnings if it's a start-up. We look at whether or not there's tangible security. What do we have there? We look at their investments, what they are bringing to the table. We look at those four things all of the time.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Thank you. That's helpful.
My other question would be for Julia.
Julia, I know you didn't have very long to speak, so I just wanted to find out how long you've been an entrepreneur.
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, HCMWorks Inc., Business Development Bank of Canada
Well, I would say I've owned two companies since 2005. I'm a bit of an entrepreneur by nature though. I think we're a little bit of a different breed, right?
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Had you started your business before you went to the bank, or was it brand new, and you said, “I have this great idea”? How difficult was it for you to get money?
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, HCMWorks Inc., Business Development Bank of Canada
Well the reason I went to the bank was I was buying out my partner, who was also U.S. based and owned 50% of the business. The company was, at that time, about five years old, I guess. I went to the bank actually in conjunction with RBC. RBC and I went to BDC together with the goal that I would buy out my U.S. equal partner at the time, which was probably about a year and a half ago, now.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative