Thank you to all of our witnesses for coming in today, and particularly to a woman who is making it in the business world. We're very fortunate to hear about your work directly at the beginning of our study.
Of course our study is focused both on women who succeed, but also on the barriers that too many women face and which in fact prevent them from succeeding. We realize there are definite regional realities depending on where people are in the country and the kinds of opportunities they have ahead of them. I particularly appreciate having ACOA here to speak to us about their work in Atlantic Canada.
I know that in the latest budget bill the Conservative government announced that it was eliminating the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, which administers the women in business initiative in Cape Breton, which we know is an area where there is very high unemployment. This elimination is in addition to the cuts of nearly one-third of ACOA's budget over the last number of years.
I'm wondering if you can speak to us about the tangible ways in which these cuts to programs in terms of Enterprise Cape Breton but also more broadly, could hurt women?