Industry committee  Well, I can't give you a number. You'd have all the overhead.

Industry committee  Yes.

Industry committee  We look after FedNor in terms of finance, HR. When you have a department such as Industry Canada, you are provided with much more overhead support that doesn't have to be carried out by an independent agency. The person you should ask about this--he has been asked once or twice about this, or maybe ten or twenty times--is Minister Clement.

Industry committee  We get it from both sides--

Industry committee  --and we are aware of some people who feel that BDC unfairly competes in venture capital. On the other side, we hear especially major funds say, “Thank goodness BDC is there to invest funds in funds, because if they weren't there to make that additional contribution, we'd be short.”

Industry committee  It's on our website. You'll find both the discussion paper and the comments that have been made by the various participants.

Industry committee  It's in Industry Canada--

Industry committee  I guess so. Right?

Industry committee  There's about $40 million in grants and contributions in FedNor per year.

Industry committee  What I encourage you to do is talk to people at the BDC; I can hook you up for that. What we are trying to do with the BDC...and the president has given speeches on this. First, they're improving their management consultancy capacity in regard to ICT adoption by SMEs. You have to start by having somebody who can help you connect those two things.

Industry committee  The first thing I would mention is that Mr. Bernier as minister heads a commission the government set up to address the issue of red tape, which is the culprit in regard to small businesses. I have quite a few friends who are small-business people who look at the mammoth bureaucracy and ask, “How do I get through all of this?”

Industry committee  I was Deputy Minister of Education for a period of my life in Ontario, so I have a certain understanding of the ongoing capital needs that post-secondary education institutions have—and they are ongoing. With regard to our involvement, the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister were quite clear that it was time-limited in the context of a specific economic crisis.

Industry committee  We really should compare notes about data points, because year after year there's been more money put into granting councils. What has decreased over the last two years is our expenditures coming out of the economic action plan. As I testified in front of the public accounts committee and many other committees, this was time-limited.

Industry committee  The government in its budget indicated that it was seeking to reduce expenditures on the order of magnitude of about $4 billion, and has asked all departments--the Department of Industry is not excluded from that list--and all agencies to identify options of 5% and 10% in expenditure reductions.

Industry committee  The lower you are in the spectrum band, the more propagation you will be able to have. Propagation has two dimensions. One, it will go further, so with one tower you will reach a greater distance. Secondly, it will permit you to have cellphone conversations if you're in the third basement of a garage.