I can speak from experience, because I myself opened a business. I had to seek out grants and apply for loans, which took me nearly nine months, whereas my Quebec neighbours would only have needed a week or two. That's a problem. People talk about reconciliation, but there's also the matter of trusting indigenous entrepreneurship. We're a hard-working people and always have been. We're in charge of our own destiny.
Now that our communities have the wind in their sails in terms of economic development and access to financing, it's very important for them to be fully trusted by financial institutions and the different orders of government. As I said, we alone are in charge of our destiny. Access to financing is often restricted due to a lack of trust. That's what I feel and what I maintain. However, I believe that greater trust in indigenous entrepreneurship is extremely important. We've always taken part in Canadian economic development. The first nations are made up of honest, hard-working people.