Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
This plan to change procurement methods at Public Works and Government Services Canada came to our attention in June and, from what I've heard, caused a lot of disappointment among the various suppliers concerned. I wanted to verify the government's intentions myself. The document states that the goal is to reduce the $20 billion procurement budget by $2.5 billion; that's one of the reasons given to explain this measure. They want to cut the time needed to conduct a transaction between the government and its suppliers by 50%; they want to reduce administration costs by 10%; they're talking about implementing an independent electronic system for goods and services procurement. One understands from the documents that those are the goals, but what we're also told is that the objective is to increase the chances that small and medium-size businesses will secure a share of the contracts awarded by the federal government, to stimulate the local economy and to give businesses equal opportunities. So it seems to me there are a number of contradictions between the objectives written and expressed.
Mr. Fredette, you're from this region; you do business in both the Outaouais region and in Ottawa. We know that only six percent of federal procurement expenditures are made in the Outaouais, compared to 94% on the Ottawa side. From the standpoint of small and medium-size businesses, what do you understand from the goals expressed, that is to say to stimulate your business, versus the potential effects of the planned measures?