Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We seem to be going in circles. We have been talking for just over an hour and we keep coming back to the same basic problem. There is a trust issue, but there is also the fact, as Mr. Ducharme said in his opening remarks, that there are a lot of discussions with the present government, but not many results.
I am trying today to see whether, before the end of our meeting, we can find at least one solution that could help everyone. What is interesting today is that we are with people who represent groups of entrepreneurs from indigenous communities. These are people who want to do business for everyone's benefit.
In fact, indigenous people are not the only ones who have had problems with government contracts during the COVID‑19 crisis. Many non-indigenous people have never received a reply from anyone and don't understand why. Those are questions for another time. I would actually have far preferred to get products from your communities rather than bringing products in from China.
That said, what can we do to make it work?
I spoke a moment ago about the Wendake indigenous reserve, which is next to where I am from. I know an entrepreneur who has the same business in Wendake, where he is subject to the rules and the law that apply to indigenous people, and in town, in Quebec City, where he is subject to the provincial and municipal rules.
Does saying that you are an indigenous business when an application is made create a problem from the outset?
For example, in your group, Mr. Ducharme, are there businesses that have responded to tenders without saying they were indigenous, and did that change anything?
If it was impossible not to declare it, has that been tried in the past?
If not, are there businesses that have two statuses, one as indigenous and the other as non-indigenous?
If so, do they see a difference when they send in their applications?