Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his question and for the work he has done in New Brunswick for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Over the past three years, our government has worked to provide better services and better access to Canadian government contracts for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Through our efforts, more than 40,000 small and medium-sized companies have received assistance from the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, and the value of contracts awarded by the department to Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises increased by 43% in 2005-06, 46% in 2006-07 and 49% this year.
In addition, procurement rules have been simplified so as not to pose barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises.