Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am still a bit flabbergasted as to why the Liberals wanted to do this study today. It was their government that put this program in place, which didn't really work. Anyway, it's their choice.
I have seen the 2019-20 departmental results report. My colleague talked a little bit about it. In terms of the results for government procurement, there is a section in there called “Government purchasing supports Canada's economic, environmental and social policy goals.” In this section, the percentage of contracts awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises is shown and the target was met on March 31, 2020. It also shows the results for 2017 at 67%, 2018-19 at 49%, and 2019-20 at 52%. Over three years, we averaged 56%. The target was 40%. I am trying to understand why the target was lowered, when over three years the average was 56%.
Mr. Ieraci, can you explain that?