Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Ducharme, for being here today.
Before I became a member of Parliament, I worked for a regional innovation centre, WEtech Alliance, and we helped to establish a program. We worked with first nation indigenous partners to establish a program called Supporting Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurs in Windsor and Essex—SAYEWE.
It was a fantastic program, and it's through that program that I got a chance to also learn about the incredible work of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business, the CCIB, a wonderful organization that does great work. I also learned that indigenous businesses are the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs in Canada.
There was one particular young entrepreneur who started a company called Culture Shock and was selling jewellery and apparel. I can tell you of the immense pride we all felt when that entrepreneur opened up a brick-and-mortar storefront in Windsor several years ago. It's a great success. It was wonderful to be part of that.
How important is it? In your opening statement, you mentioned a company that was very successful through this federal procurement process. How important is it, in your opinion, to share the success stories of indigenous businesses working through the federal procurement program? How important is it to get those good stories out?