In Canada's tech sector we really struggle to have the capital required to help companies scale and grow. There are a few areas where this plays out. One is in the venture capital space. There are very few VC firms that have capital allocation to help firms scale and grow, so, often, firms have to go outside of Canada in order to access funding. We have some capital challenges in the VC space that are an issue.
In terms, though, of where government really should be focusing its energy, it should look at what the outcomes are that are going to drive firms to be successful. Our mantra at the council is, really, that the government shouldn't be picking winners. It should be supporting winners.
When you look at different government programs and funding opportunities, how are those funds being marshalled and allocated towards those firms that are showing green spurts and showing real opportunity? Often in Canada we support research but we forget about the development side of things, and it's the development side of things that fundamentally will pay for many of the things that folks in this room are talking about. Therefore, looking at ways of alleviating that and creating opportunity is critical. We point to SR and ED as just being one of many programs through which the government could be allocating those dollars more effectively.