Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I'm not sure I'm aware of that report.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Mr. Chairman, as I said in my earlier remarks, the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, like other departments, was charged at looking at a reduced footprint and at programs that either were not performing or ones that had met their objectives. In the case of the programs you

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Mr. Chairman, I can only repeat what I've said. When a program has achieved its objectives, it's no longer necessary.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Yes.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Well, it may in part be because they have a ready market. Their members and the communities in which they live might give them a boost that other small businesses perhaps don't have. There are business services and cooperative business services available now from the federations

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I don't know. I know that we as a department cooperate and collaborate with the group that is organizing that. We have worked with them on websites and promotions and the like. There may be other assistance, but I'm not aware of that.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I am not an advisor to the committee on what it feels would be useful. I believe the summit itself will be quite interesting and will cover a number of areas on cooperatives. I believe that Canadians have expertise both to share and to learn about.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  As I said earlier in my response, I think the conference will cover some very interesting subjects in the area of cooperatives in a range of fields, and it will probably be a very interesting place where we will both learn things and share things.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I think we might have read the same thing. I just read that this morning. My understanding is that there is a study by the Government of Quebec. So probably it would be valid only in the province of Quebec, but yes, looking at one year out, five years out, and maybe ten years out

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  No, sir. I only read that summary. I don't know what the basis for the study is, but it confirms what I think all of us believe about cooperatives, which is that the sector is doing quite well.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Canada continues to support the cooperatives movement in its initiatives and in the context of the International Year of the Cooperatives and the Quebec International Summit of Cooperatives. The government, and the department, will continue to work with the community to ensure th

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  We think that cooperatives will continue to have access to the range of existing programs. We have worked with the cooperatives movement and with the federal, provincial and territorial departments to ensure that we provide the cooperatives with information on hundreds of existin

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Thank you. I do not claim to have particular knowledge in that area. I must say, though, that I have seen the same thing that you are describing. As far as I know, there haven’t been any studies to support what I am going to say, but I think, as you do, that the cooperatives are

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  The program you are talking about was created in 2003. It has contributed to the development of expertise that encouraged the development of cooperatives. That expertise still exists today, and we believe that government support is no longer needed because the cooperatives includ

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  We reduced the role of the Rural and Cooperatives Secretariat to bring its role back to what it was previously, which was research and policy coordination with the provinces and other departments. We did that with the goal of working with those departments and ensuring that they