Industry committee  Our service delivery standard has clearly been affected by the crisis and by a pretty dramatic reorientation of how we work. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but typically we would want to respond rapidly to questions the committee raises. I would agree with that.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, maybe I should clarify. I think my undertaking is to try to respond to the committee as rapidly as possible. I certainly understand the obligation to be accountable to Parliament. I would not say our ability to respond has been diminished across the board, but depending on the kinds of questions asked or the information required, to be frank, the timeline might be affected.

Industry committee  I should clarify and say that 200 approvals is my rough guesstimate. I would have to provide more specific figures, so maybe you shouldn't hold me to that, but we've certainly had a large number that have been able to make a direct contribution. When interested firms go on the website, there is kind of a questionnaire, a process that they go through to enrol.

Industry committee  Certainly an area of significant interest in the immediate term, and I think it's probably obvious to the committee but maybe I'll just underline it, is the issue of personal protective equipment and various supplies, medical supplies, that are needed to deal with the immediate challenges to health and safety.

Industry committee  There are, just for simplicity's sake, a couple of different pathways for businesses that have that interest. One of them is the Buyandsell website that is being managed by Public Services and Procurement Canada. The second one is the made in Canada program which my ministry is responsible for.

Industry committee  I don't think, Madam Chair, that I would go further than the minister's comments in this regard. Clearly the Prime Minister has indicated that some of those conversations have started. Our focus in the immediate term is on health and safety and getting the supply chain to produce medical equipment.

Industry committee  I know that is an issue the government is certainly carefully following. For the specific answer to that question, it is probably best directed, in the case of agriculture, to the agriculture ministry. In the case of some of the broader supply chain security issues, this is something we are working on very closely with colleagues from the public safety ministry, the finance ministry and sectoral departments such as agriculture.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, I can answer that question. Briefly, we have had about 5,000 companies come through the ISED process. We have been really delighted and floored with the response from industry. We have put in place a fairly sophisticated system to screen all the folks who come in, and we have called every single company back and have had a conversation with them.

Industry committee  I think that Mr. Kamarianakis from Global Affairs is in the best position to answer this question. Certainly some countries have implemented restrictions. I'll leave the floor to my colleagues.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, I think that question is probably best directed towards the finance minister. My understanding is that the BDC is working with financial institutions on the oil and gas package. I don't know whether my colleagues who are with me today would wish to add more, but I'm not in a position at the moment to provide you with a specific timeline.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, I thank the honourable member for the intervention. We are well aware of those issues. We are certainly working with our colleagues at BDC, the financial Crown corporations, and I would say more generally with the finance ministry and the other central agencies, to make sure that the small business perspective is brought to the table and that those issues are considered in the design of those programs.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, I might suggest, if it's okay, that my colleague Paul Thompson speak to this. He's been doing a lot of work on the small business issue, including with our financial Crown corporations, so I'll turn it over to him.

Industry committee  An MOU was actually signed between.... I'm just looking at the details here, Madam Chair, if you want to get the answer. This is a three-year project to look at issues critical to the competitiveness of western Canada. The run time is from 2019 to 2022. So, I think the—

Industry committee  The project has three elements. One is looking at innovation and regulation, another is looking at trade agreements and the third is around trade with China. There are a number of elements. I'd be happy to get back to you with some details on what the project elements are.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, we can get you the answer to that, but I don't have it immediately available. It's readily available so we can come back.