Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for coming here on almost our first day of winter, by the look of it out there.
I have a quick question.
I was interested in the comments—Allan, you mentioned this—regarding the subcontracts. What we find, and what we're hearing, is that this is where a lot of small businesses fit into. They fit into the subcontract because of the number of employees. They don't have the resources, the wherewithal, to meet some of the requirements to take on the full contract, just because of their size.
We also heard from one of the witnesses the other day, which I think was a key part, that small businesses often don't have the resources or the ability to take the long-term investment. Part of this is the payment that comes with federal contracts. If I have to meet my payroll this Thursday, next Thursday, and every Thursday, the comment was, “As small businesses, we have a passionate and a compassionate commitment to our employees to make sure we can keep them. Sometimes we can't get take those long-term investments.” As a result, they get the subcontracts. They take these subcontracts.
We also heard as we went through this that it's often too much about price and not about the value of the product, or in coordination.... In the long term, price is important, but the quality and the outcomes of these things are likely more important, as we watch so many things happen around government here in terms of contracts.
Do you have any comments on that?