Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the minister.
I will start by commending you, which shouldn't be surprising given that I am a colleague of yours, but I do hear from a lot of small business owners across the country who are very happy with the reduction in the small business tax rate and the increase in the threshold, which are very important, particularly the announcement about cutting the red tape—not only the announcement but obviously the efforts in that area.
In your opening remarks you outlined a number of programs that are designed to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in a variety of ways. I'm thinking now particularly of the global circumstance that we find ourselves in. Can you identify programs that have been the most significant to small and medium-sized companies in addressing this period of economic slowdown and maybe explain what it is particularly about those programs that are of particular benefit to businesses in Canada?