Mr. Speaker, I wish to address the House with regard to Bill C-21, an act to amend the Small Business Loans Act. The support for small and medium size businesses provided by the SBLA is integral to the government's jobs and growth agenda which is reducing the deficit, creating the conditions for strong and sustainable economic growth, and helping Canadians get back to work.
I will engage in this debate by giving a larger scope and a broader framework to the issues we are debating. I will also illustrate that the SBLA is part of a larger strategy presented to Canadians by the government.
The strategy basically deals with four overarching themes: to make Canada the most connected country in the world; to enable Canada to realize its international potential; to invest in innovation and knowledge; and to increase the participation of Canadians in the new economy. All of these themes are highly relevant to Canada's small business community which indeed must adapt and innovate to thrive in the new information economy.
Over and above the benefits that our renewal of the Small Business Loans Act will confer on small and medium size enterprises, many Industry Canada programs are designed specifically to increase the participation of small businesses in the new economy. These programs complement the way in which the SBLA supports small businesses and innovative new companies in particular by making it easier for them to secure debt financing.
Recent developments with regard to connectedness are particularly exciting and relevant to the field under discussion. Let us take some examples.
As part of small business week recently, the Minister of Industry launched three new Internet web sites designed specifically for small business. The sites are located on Strategis, Industry Canada's interactive web site. The new Strategis sites continue Industry Canada's efforts to connect Canadians, increase support for small business and move Canada ahead in the knowledge based economy.
The first, Sources of Financing, is a new leading edge product based on a sophisticated and powerful search engine. Through the site small businesses can access information on a wide range of information about traditional and alternative sources of financing. These sources include the SBLA and run the gamut from the familiar debt financing arrangements available from the major financial institutions to services offered by micro lenders or venture capital companies.
The second site is designed to complement the Canada community investment plan, CCIP, an initiative which was started in 1996. It is an innovative program to help businesses with potential for growth gain access to existing private sector sources of risk capital. The program which has a special focus on small and medium size businesses is designed for communities which exist outside the orbit of Canada's major financial centres. Twenty-two communities across Canada are taking part.
Steps to Growth Capital is the Strategis web site which has been created as a companion information site to the CCIP. Steps to Growth Capital will help growth oriented firms prepare themselves to find outside investors and close a deal. There are eight steps covered in the program which address a whole range of investment capital issues, from identifying capital needs to managing a relationship with an investor.
It is becoming quite clear from the comments I have made that the SBLA should simply not be viewed in isolation but rather as part of a larger strategy presented by the Government of Canada under the leadership of the Minister of Industry, who has really taken upon himself to provide the type of programs and tools to the small business sector so that it can grow in a growing economy. We could look at this perhaps as the creation of a tool kit for small businesses so that they can generate the type of wealth and the type of jobs our economy needs.
These three sites have come on line in addition to the wealth of small business information already available via Strategis through Contact!, the Canadian management network. This site is one of the busiest on Strategis. It provides entrepreneurs with access to information on where to find out about management skills, locate outside advice and take part in extensive on line business to business discussion forums.
Contact! makes available many, many resources. For example it provides extensive data on more than 1,500 Canadian small business support organizations. It also includes an all in one business support centre with more than 450 on line how to publications and descriptions of more than 300 business management software tools.
It is clear from the type of material and programs the Government of Canada is providing small business that we are doing our part and our share to make sure that they can grow to their potential.
The government's goal in making Canada the most connected country in the world is to ensure that Canadians wherever they are can have access to the information highway by the year 2000. This is perhaps the single most important action the government can take to ensure that we succeed in the knowledge based economy.
I think members of Parliament on both sides have a full understanding that there has been quite a transformation occurring in this economy. The role of government as a facilitator is to provide these opportunities for small business so that we are well equipped for the challenges of the 21st century. May I say it is not so much the 21st century that we really have to get ready for. We have to be ready because the so-called 21st century telecommunications systems and networks are here already.
This is why Industry Canada is working with private and public sector partners to ensure that all of Canada's 16,500 schools and 3,400 libraries are connected to the Internet by 1998. That is the type of leading edge work we need to engage in. Just think about the fact that 16,500 schools and 3,400 libraries are going to be connected to the Internet in 1998.
What does that mean? It gives us a competitive edge as a nation. We will be ahead of most if not all industrialized countries in the world in this particular sector. Why is that important? Because it speaks to competitiveness in the ever growing competitive global marketplace. It provides our people with the human resources required, the potential to expand this country's human resources and to make sure that we get our fair share.
It is also why we are connecting rural and remote communities through public access sites across Canada. It will give them the tools to further their economic and social development. For rural communities, technology is their friend. It brings them closer to the centres and makes them connect not only with people within Canada but throughout the world.
My colleagues will continue on stressing some of these points. I am sure they will dedicate the majority of their speeches to the issue of how this bill we are examining is part of a larger strategy the government has in mind. I have touched upon some of the key issues in my 10 minutes. My hon. colleagues will touch on some of the other overarching themes in the Minister of Industry's strategy for a more connected society.