Government Operations committee  If you did a 360° review.... I mean, I don't have the results. I would do that. I would do a 360° review and then you would hear how people feel about their jobs, responsibilities, and job satisfaction. I would only be surmising, but I have a few family members who work for diffe

Government Operations committee  Would you agree, Charles?

Government Operations committee  You mentioned that it may incur a greater cost. Really, the guidance in the context should be value. It might cost more, but the value in terms of creating technologies, export earnings, customers is more than just cost. I think you have to keep that in mind at all times.

Government Operations committee  Can I pick up on that?

Government Operations committee  I have just a couple of thoughts there. I think if we looked at the employment growth within Public Works over the last 10 years, there would actually be many more people within the organization than fewer people. If, when everyone woke up in the morning, they looked at their j

Government Operations committee  If I can add this too, we're in unique economic circumstances, and you can count on it that every other country is going to be vigorous in the amount of industry it engages with and keeps as part of its national economy. I mentioned the automotive industry. People are thinking ab

Government Operations committee  I was going to take the last one: the office of small business--why can't it have a mandate to actually be a test bed of some new Canadian technologies? Experiment with them; see how they work; be a customer. Secondly, why don't they engage in communications, if you give them pe

Government Operations committee  Obviously, there has been no improvement whatsoever, and the communications have actually further eroded confidence in the Canadian government as a market opportunity; hence, the story about more companies looking for their first sale outside of Canada. So the intention was the

Government Operations committee  Well, hopefully the intention was there and it just hasn't panned out.

Government Operations committee  Could I address that in maybe a little broader context? What has happened in the U.S., if you look at the logic of this, is that you have very strong political leadership there on the value of technology to the economy. You have a cabinet of three people: you have a chief perfo

Government Operations committee  If we were to look at that as a model within Canada, you must have guidance from the very top.

Government Operations committee  Not at all.

Government Operations committee  You just have to look at what our neighbour to the south is doing, and also at comparisons in Europe. We did a significant study on supply chains, with examples of how different countries are helping to create a richer fabric of small companies and large companies within their na

Government Operations committee  But we're just not hearing that. It's just not there.

Government Operations committee  As a matter of fact, I think we were the motivator for the creation of the small business bureau within PWGSC. The feedback is that their mandate and authority are rather weak, and they have not been able to communicate clearly government direction or opportunity.