Thank you so much for being here. Obviously we're not in an ideal situation with these steel and aluminum tariffs, and we're struggling. My region of Windsor-Essex, and certainly Ontario, has been very hard hit. It is the SMEs that can't navigate the website and can't afford the wait times that it's taking to get people out to look at whether they're able to achieve an exemption or get the surtax. It's very difficult, and they're closing. They're sending dies to the States. They're shipping to the U.S. Once they close, the chances of their coming back again are very slim.
We are in an emergency situation in Ontario right now. Some of the programs that you represent they simply won't access, or these programs simply won't address their issues because they are in triage. They are in emergency mode right now, and they need supports on the ground.
We had the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation write to us here at the trade committee. They had an event in the summer attended by 250 people. I was in attendance. There were a lot of auto..., the Canadian Association of Mold Makers and automotive parts. The challenge is the way the BDC and the $800 million funding envelope was written. It doesn't include all of the codes for the NAICS. I know the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation and other businesses wrote specifically to the BDC, to our local office, because it includes some auto codes, but it doesn't include the cluster we have, which is under the 3335 code, which I know is very specific. We really do need an answer as to whether you've expanded into other codes, because many other sectors that simply can't access this are being impacted because of the frame in which this has been set up.
I ask these question of the BDC, if you can respond. Let us know how these requests are being worked through in a timely manner.