Government Operations committee  This is my 10 minutes?

Government Operations committee  I was told they were going to go first, but I'm fine. I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land are gathered on is the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe. I am honoured to stand before the standing committee, along with colleagues committed to

Government Operations committee  I would say they are equally important. I think using CCAB's program as.... You know they grade as gold level, as Suncor has mentioned—they're gold under the PAR program. Both are equally important.

Government Operations committee  The short answer is no. However, I think the important thing is that how it's implemented is why I'm here. Actively reaching out to indigenous women entrepreneurs is kind of the reason I'm here. Whoever administers it, we need to have some formal activity toward outreach for indi

Government Operations committee  Yes, as I mentioned briefly, we just need a formal process of outreach and training for indigenous women entrepreneurs. Even further, I would like see the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business enhance its PAR program to include some kind of a highlight for indigenous women. So

Government Operations committee  Not at this point. I would have to look at that more closely.

Government Operations committee  Again, the message is in the procurement process for government. In any outreach group, you're looking for formal focus outreach to indigenous women entrepreneurs.

Government Operations committee  Not to generalize, but indigenous women entrepreneurs know it exists, but they don't know how it connects to them, and we would like to see that connection.

Government Operations committee  Training and a focused awareness campaign.

Government Operations committee  Yes, the process itself is challenging because of the need for a higher broadband, and remote communities tend to not have those broadband capabilities.

Government Operations committee  That's true. Further to that, we want to emphasize that there's even a bit more of a need when it comes to outreach to indigenous women. In the broad spectrum of saying “indigenous population”, the special needs of indigenous women get lost.

Government Operations committee  Basically, there's no direct interaction, right?

Government Operations committee  There's just something that exists on the Internet, basically.

Government Operations committee  I think there was a reference to having targets or goals on what per cent of procurement would go to indigenous women. Have those tangible numbers, and then focus on outreach. It's about raising awareness on how to overcome the obstacles—or even becoming aware of the obstacles—un

Government Operations committee  For sure. As I mentioned briefly, for example, just in this process, I would like to pursue a partnership with the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business under their PAR program, to see if we can do an enhancement to their gold, silver, bronze certification program, and include