Do we have an hour and a half?
I was at EDC for 10 years and was there when, as an organization, we focused on serving smaller business better. I can recall the trade minister of the time coming into our board meeting and essentially lecturing management to get their act together and get serious about small businesses. I think EDC has come a long way.
The truth is that in a financial institution you're not selecting customers so much as customers are selecting themselves. The truth is that EDC intervenes when there is an exporter who has a prospective buyer with a deal and needs insurance, financing, bonding, or whatever else to bring the deal together.
BDC is a little different because they're further upstream and are putting cash onto your balance sheet. That's why they're doing the evaluation of management capacity. BDC has found a very clever way of combining financing capacity with an evaluation of management. As an investor they're peering over your shoulder.
I think to a great extent we have the model right. EDC has found a very efficient way to serve small business. They make the tools available online. Most of what smaller companies need from EDC is insurance. It's credits insurance so they can know that they're going to get paid on the deal.
BDC is more hands on and a little more rigorous and you were probably put through the [Inaudible—Editor] a little, Dionne, with your experience there.
We are far more advanced compared to the other G-7 countries and most other major industrial countries. We don't for example have a lot of public money as subsidies. Their capital bases are there and they have a mandate to break even plus, but not necessarily to compete with the banks. So based upon my history and experience as a public sector banker, I think our model is in pretty good shape. I don't know the TCS or the Foreign Affairs products quite as well.