Finance committee  It would have been at the COVID-19 cabinet committee, which I am a part of. The first time the proposal made its way to cabinet committee would have been on May 5, and I would have been briefed for that committee so that I could participate in that committee. That would have been the first time I learned of the Canada student service grant proposal.

Finance committee  Well, I certainly received the social entrepreneurship program. That was what I—my team—looked at. That was what my officials reviewed, and that was the recommendation I received. As part of the deliberations at the COVID committee and at cabinet, it was about supports for students.

Finance committee  Well, I'm not able to share the specific deliberations, but it was a whole-of-government decision, of course, to support the Canada student service grant. To answer your question on whether I advocate for supports for businesses, all the time, in fact. That is what I do every day in this portfolio, humbly, as you well know.

Finance committee  The proposal came forward to the cabinet committee. It came forward to cabinet. I was briefed by my staff as I normally would be in advance of cabinet to be sure that I was provided with all of the information necessary to participate in cabinet. That was what was provided to me and that was the work that I undertook that allowed me to participate fully in cabinet, and as you well know, cabinet as a full cabinet approved the Canada student service grant.

Finance committee  No, we did not.

Finance committee  In February my office scheduled a meeting to take place on April 7. At that time, I spoke with Mr. Kielburger. It was at the end of that conversation that Mr. Kielburger raised the idea of a social entrepreneurship program.

Finance committee  I received the concept paper a couple of days after that initial conversation. As I said in my earlier remarks, I received a concept paper for the social entrepreneurship program. That was received on April 9. We received more updated information on the social entrepreneurship program, and we provided that to my department.

Finance committee  Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon to all members of the finance committee. Thank you for inviting me today to speak to Canadians, and thank you for all your important work, especially during these difficult times. Over the past few months, Canadians have been facing the crisis of our generation.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that great question. Canadian small businesses indeed are the backbone of the Canadian economy. They employ over eight million hard-working Canadians. While the Conservatives wanted us to just make any deal at any cost, we stood up for Canadians.

Government Priorities  Mr. Speaker, we are a government that cares about small businesses and that cares about creating jobs in this country. That is why we have lowered the small business tax rate to 9%, making it one of the lowest. We are helping hard-working Canadians create those jobs in small businesses.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, our government works hard for small businesses. We have cut over 400 regulatory irritants for small businesses. We have cut more red tape in the last three and a half years than the Conservatives did in the last 10 years. That is working hard for small businesses in this country.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Newmarket—Aurora is right. When small businesses export, they are more productive; they create more jobs; they grow and they scale at higher rates. Recently, I announced an investment of $6.7 million to help 1,000 Canadian SMEs grow their businesses, including SMEs in the northern communities in Ontario, so they can successfully put a plan together and successfully export.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, our government has lowered the small business tax to 9%, giving small business owners up to $7,500 in savings. We have also cut red tape by removing 450 administrative burdens, making it easier for businesses to do business. We are working hard for Canada's small businesses because they are the backbone of our Canadian economy.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, small businesses make up 99% of all businesses in Canada, yet only 16% are women-owned or women-led and they face unique barriers. This is why we recently invested $85 million in a women ecosystem fund to help support those women entrepreneurs and another $20 million to help those women grow their businesses.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, our government is working hard to help Canadian small and medium-sized companies start up, scale up and access new markets. A strong venture capital ecosystem that invests in innovative Canadians and young companies is essential to achieving this goal. That is why yesterday, our government announced an additional $50 million to increase venture capital available to Canadian clean-tech companies.