Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to the presenters both present and on the screen. I want to thank you so much for the examples you have given of these social economy models that have been described both verbally and on paper for us.
I don't think I'm unlike a lot of Canadians in having this idea of the charitable sector, the for-profit sector, and the non-profit sector, but this is kind of a blurring of the traditional models most of us have in our minds. To have this described for us with a set of examples of projects that are working is most helpful and also shows us the wide range of activities that are taking place under this model. Therefore, it sounds to me like we can't afford to do without all these jobs you people are creating in your particular agencies.
I want to go to Ms. Mennie right away. I understand that the 2004 federal budget allocated $132 million to the social economy initiative, of which $100 million was for the establishment of patient capital funds, and $15 million over five years--or $3 million a year--was for research related to the social economy. I want Ms. Mennie to tell me where the social economy initiative is at this point. What was the budget for 2006-2007? What has happened to the $100 million of patient capital funds? One of the other presenters mentioned access to capital as one of the issues in getting some of these organizations started or maybe an expansion started.
Ms. Mennie, can you tell me about the numbers?