Industry committee  Does it hinder us from investing in Canada? No. We announced in July that we'd be opening a software development centre in the lower mainland of B.C., which we opened in September. It will have approximately 300 employees or software developers by the end of January. Hopefully, that will continue to grow quite significantly.

Industry committee  As was mentioned, Bill Gates came to Ottawa last year. He spoke with the Prime Minister and pointed out that this problem is not unique to Canada, but affects North America as a whole. A lot fewer postsecondary students are choosing mathematics and computer science, in particular.

Industry committee  I imagine that the question is one of targeting...

Industry committee  Mr. Chair, Canada has one of the highest piracy rates in the western hemisphere. Our piracy rate is approximately 33%—and this is specifically of Microsoft products. Thirty-three percent of all Microsoft software in Canada is pirated or counterfeited. This compares with about 21% in the United States.

Industry committee  Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank you for inviting me to speak to you this morning. I am going to make my remarks in English, but I will be able to answer questions in French or English. Thank you again for having Microsoft at the committee. It's not often that Microsoft and IBM sit together.