Mr. Speaker, here is what the government is doing. In four consecutive budgets, there has been no innovation strategy. On the venture capital front, on their watch, there was a drop in this region from $350 million in 2005 to $130 million last year. That is a 65% decline. There was only one venture capital deal last year in support of a new start-up.
Existing companies cannot raise money, they cannot commercialize and they cannot get any money in BDC's venture capital pools, because there is no new money. There are no new tax breaks for risk capital and no matching federal funds to match angel investments.
Once again, what are the minister and the government doing to support knowledge-based jobs?