Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, Mr. Guimont. I would simply like to clarify something. We are talking about the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises. I dealt with some of your employees several weeks ago, or perhaps it was several months ago. I was told that, since 2007, the office had given courses in Ottawa, and that it tried to give courses to company owners on the Quebec side of the National Capital Region, but that for some reason it did not really work out. The office was approached seven times, but only three replies were forthcoming.
Last April, following a report by Radio-Canada concerning the fact that very few contracts had been given on the Quebec side, I again contacted the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, which you work for. On April 7, I even met with the office's employees. I was accompanied by the President of Développement économique – CLD Gatineau, Mr. Michel Plouffe, and we met with two of your employees. I don't have their names, but you probably know who I am referring to. There was the national supervisor and another person who said she was a regional supervisor, and I had no reason not to believe her. Their offices were located at Place du Portage, and everything went well. They led us to believe that there would be contact with the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce, with the Association de la construction du Québec-Région de l'Outaouais, with the Association des professionnels, industriels et commerçants du secteur Aylmer, and others.
We announced this to the committee of the whole of the City of Gatineau. Everybody was happy. Several weeks later, the minister publicly announced the creation of an office to help small- and medium-sized businesses.
Tell me. Am I missing something? Did the minister know that such an office existed already, Mr. Guimont?