The Aboriginal Financial Institutions Network has 59 members from coast to coast to coast, and they've been doing this for more than 35 years. Rocky's got one of the first AFIs that was ever created. It's in Alberta, and they connect with their communities on a daily basis. They've been developing entrepreneurs. They have deep social connections within the regions where they operate, and to create a partnership with the AFI network would instantly connect you to the community. The AFI Network has been processing government support programs for many decades now. We've processed $3 billion in lending to 50,000 loans. That's the reach of the AFI network.
This has been successful because there is a stimulus program that was in place, and this is the one I referenced with a 70% decline. Twenty years ago it was about an $80-million program with 10 urban offices and a bunch of aboriginal financial institutions. That program was reduced to $34 million.
The stimulus program, which enables a loan to be bought down so that the risk is bought down and the entrepreneur has a better chance of success, is a program that works. They've had lots of success, and the program has shown that it's an investment. For every dollar provided, there's $1.20 back in the government's treasury department—never mind about the social impacts that are felt and the reduction in social spending that happens from supporting an indigenous business.
I forgot where I was going with that.