Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Thank you, Mr. Lemieux. That's an excellent question. As you mentioned, the matter is rather complicated. I will try to stick to the main points. But if you need additional information on the more technical aspects or other elements, I want to say right off the bat that we would be delighted to provide the entire committee with those details.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Small cooperatives, of course, have the challenge of acquiring a small amount of financing in the beginning, because they can't always use their equity or property as a traditional business would. When it comes to large cooperative enterprises, it is true that all financial institutions do not necessarily have a good understanding of cooperative structures or an awareness of that model.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  In terms of business transfers, I believe other witnesses have already mentioned the Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins program, which was set up in partnership with the Government of Quebec. This tool not only provides access to capital, but also addresses the matter of business succession, especially as it pertains to the cooperative environment.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Everyone can attend. It is open to everyone.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  It's actually 45,000 jobs.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  The event is supposed to be completely open. The International Summit of Cooperatives was the brainchild of the academic sector, the business world and the International Co-operative Alliance.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  That applies to the entire consolidated group.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I will describe it briefly. Visually speaking, Desjardins Group's structure is similar to an hourglass. Members make up and own the caisses. The caisses have certain governance and decision-making instruments. Representatives ultimately elect the president of Desjardins Group. All the caisses are grouped together under a single federation.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Thank you for the question. It is quite clear that by their very nature, cooperatives are often drivers of development and innovation. They are firmly entrenched in community life. As a result, cooperatives are very attuned to people's needs and take advantage of that local expertise, which is highly valuable and specialized.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Yes, that's an excellent point. I'm glad you brought that up. I touched on Desjardins Group's structure. It is network-based, meaning a group of independent financial institutions have joined forces. Being a financial institution, a deposit-taking institution, government agencies do provide a certain degree of protection.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  To my knowledge, the stability fund is managed by the entire group, for the benefit of all the cooperatives. That said, every cooperative, every caisse, can provide for its own cushion separately.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Mr. Chair, the entire Desjardins Group hails the creation of the Special Committee on Cooperatives. We would like to thank the committee members for this opportunity to express our views and opinions on this topic. We wholeheartedly believe that this initiative is all the more timely given that the UN has declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives.