Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for Don Valley West on his maiden speech. I guess we all know that there are not many maidens left here. I would say that his comments were very perceptive and bear paying close attention to.
Certainly coming from a rural northern area one of the crucial problems we have is access to capital. During the election I know his party spoke about an investment fund for small and medium sized businesses. The New Democratic Party presented a very comprehensive proposal for a national investment fund wherein we could utilize both public pension funds and private funds to help entrepreneurs. There are many in the country and many young people who now want to start their own business. They may indeed be very small enterprises.
As well as the industrial strategy to which the member referred, could he give his views on the necessity to ensure that we can get capital to small businesses in all areas of the country, rural as well as urban?