Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thanks to our witnesses. These are great conversations at this committee. I wish we had more time. That's what I say every time I get up.
I want to focus my questions around the technology access centres that you mentioned, Mr. van den Berg. I had a business back in the early 1980s, when I was developing some solutions for industry. On the weekends I was putting together some ideas. I can remember selling an idea to the American government for 300 systems. It was a really good thing for my business. I put it together on the weekend. I sold it on Monday morning, and then we tried to build it in quantity and then get money into our business so we could go again. I remember my dad asking me if I would patent it. I said, Dad, I'm chasing the next order. I have to keep my business going. There wasn't a technology access centre that could have done the prototyping I did in my garage on the weekend.
In rural Canada in particular, in small business in particular, those are the supports that we need out in the field. Could you maybe go into that a little bit more for our testimony?