Thank you, Chair.
I am surprised to hear that comment; on the other hand, I'm not surprised. What we find, from our point of view, is that there are different agencies in the federal government, and the teams don't like to play in the same sandbox. If there is innovation money for business development and things like that, I can find a lot of places where ACOA can help.
In the last few years, there was an Atlantic Canada program for regional development offices, but the funding was withdrawn and the offices were closed. That goes right to my point about access for business people in rural areas. That money was withdrawn and those items closed.
As for the new policies, there is the Department of Fisheries, there is agriculture, and there is the Business Development Bank Canada, but if ACOA had funding and could get into the smaller areas, like maybe a fisheries loan board for the province, that could help with the financing of business transitions for fishers and farmers.
However, what about the technology enhancements they have? ACOA has money for those, but they're not allowed to play, or they do so only rarely. Their having the expertise and the extra money would certainly go a long way.