Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister Duclos, I'm going to talk to you a bit about the problem of subcontracting among indigenous businesses.
I'll give you an example. The Department of National Defence awards a contract to a subcontractor, who is then responsible for finding suppliers of clothing for Canadian Armed Forces members. The subcontractor is located in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. There are indigenous businesses that are perfectly capable of supplying the goods for this contract, businesses such as Bastien Industries in Wendake, which I'm sure you're familiar with. However, this company is not approached. The supplier in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu probably doesn't know that he can use indigenous businesses.
Why are subcontractors that do business with the government not required to reach out to indigenous businesses? Your government is usually the champion of inclusion criteria, after all. Why is this criterion not a requirement in calls for tender?