That is a tragedy too. Little research has been done to gather information on co-operative practices and the spirit of collective enterprise. However, the secretariat was listing the number of businesses, their areas of activity and the value of their economic impact on the communities. It also made available the history of some co-operatives so that other communities could take inspiration from them. It promoted the co-operative program both with the federal government and with the other partners and it spoke about it as an economic endeavour for which investment is required, given the impact on the communities.
The secretariat was gathering information, establishing links and monitoring projects. It worked with the machinery of government on public policy. The best public policy has been designed collectively, that is, not only by politicians and bureaucrats, but by working in collaboration with people in the trenches. The secretariat was playing that coordinating role.
It was part of Industry Canada for a very short time. We do not know if we will find the same dynamic, the same connections and the same kindred spirits. Being part of Industry Canada is not a bad thing, I must say. As I was saying earlier, collective businesses make up a real economy. It was as if Industry Canada, the department with the principal economic raison d'être in Canada, recognized them as being real businesses and dealt with them accordingly.
It remains to be seen if we will find our place, if we will have the same programs that come with other kinds of entrepreneurship to support co-operatives. Even after being in existence for 150 years, co-operatives remain business structures that governments fail to understand. The secretariat was a box inside government that knew us and that knew all the ups and downs of the movement, and all of its strength.