Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for telling us about the various realities women face. They still face significant economic gaps, so they have to overcome major barriers in order to achieve economic equity.
I'm going to start with Ms. Kirkland, because I would like to discuss microloans, which my fellow member Ms. Ferreri was asking about earlier.
Yesterday, I met with people from the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, and they highlighted how difficult it was for indigenous women to access credit. That's something we hear a lot. Last week, I attended an event put on by the Réseau des femmes d'affaires du Québec to mark International Women's Day, and the subject came up there as well. Access to credit is something that comes up over and over.
You touched on microloans, but I'd like to hear more about the flexibility dimension. That's something that has been called for. It brings to mind something that happened recently, with the Canada emergency business account loans becoming due. Repaying those loans has affected, and will continue to affect, small and very small businesses. By not being flexible, the government is leaving many women entrepreneurs in the lurch, especially women in my region who are being forced to remortgage their homes in order to repay the loan.
What does that flexibility mean for you when it comes to microloans and the services you provide?