Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the government committed itself both in the throne speech and in subsequent budgets to developing strong regional economies.
Regional development agencies by their very nature are decentralized institutions committed to working with the private sector, provincial governments, universities and other community organizations.
In Atlantic Canada, ACOA has been able to facilitate the private sector and its success rate is approximately 94 per cent.
I said to committee members that there are bound to be setbacks. There will probably be setbacks in the future, but at a success rate of 94 per cent when the federal government contributes one dollar under that particular agency it generates $4.20.