Thank you, Madam Chair.
First of all, thank you, witnesses, for appearing today.
In my previous work in economic development with the City of Kitchener, I was quite familiar with the digital main street program and working with Communitech. I can vouch that many small businesses, retailers in particular, were saved through this program. It allowed them to quickly transition to online shopping, which they would never have been able to do before, so it was very effective in that way.
Mr. Padfield, I was wondering. This program was launched in a period of seven weeks. Can you explain how that compares with the usual program launch for new programs? How were you able to accomplish that so quickly in this time? I know there was urgency, but I wondered if you could elaborate.