Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses. It's been great testimony today. I love that “strong and resilient” statement. I think it speaks truth to what entrepreneurs have to be.
Ms. Nepinak, you talked about how there are already massive barriers to aboriginal-led businesses and women. We've heard in the past that start-ups of women-led organizations in Canada, as a whole, receive less than 2% of funding for what we call venture capital. It's extremely difficult. What I've heard today is not just about the barriers. You talked about a lack of support and even sexism. Going further, 1,100 businesses were delisted because of the lack of verifiability. We heard about what that means for businesses.
I'd like to ask both of you, Ms. Perron and Ms. Nepinak, about access to capital. What has the government done to allow, first, more access to capital—not just funding, but from banks? We talk about something called open banking, which allows banks to be able to bank other businesses, including indigenous businesses.
How has the access to capital been for indigenous-led businesses, and how do we improve that as a whole?
Let's start with Ms. Perron.