Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for appearing today.
Gentlemen, in November 2006 our government introduced our financial plan, which was called “Advantage Canada”. In that we talked about a couple of advantages that we were looking to create, one being a tax advantage and the second being an entrepreneurial advantage. That's where I see the Business Development Bank of Canada playing a key role as an arm of government.
In the 2008 budget we specifically set aside $75 million for the Business Development Bank to support the creation of the new privately run ventures. Specifically, it's a capital fund to support venture capital for growing companies. Can you talk a little bit about how this is good for Canadians, who it's going to benefit, and whether that fund is available in all regions of Canada and so forth?