Industry committee  I do not want to repeat what has already been said but I agree that it would be a good thing to start teaching economics in our high schools. I believe things will start changing when people start seeing industrial parks expending, better jobs being available and young people hav

Industry committee  I would not be so critical. Basic research is important for preparation. Results can only be seen in the long run. Canadian universities carry out research in all kinds of fields which do not necessarily lead to commercialization and I would not want to criticize that. However, a

Industry committee  There is no magical ratio. Some say that there is a gap between the moment when an idea funded by research is sufficiently developed--up to being patented, even-- and the moment when it can be marketed. The granting phase should be progressively reduced and eliminated to be repl

Industry committee  The profits last year? From memory, I believe they were $130-some million.

Industry committee  In the university transfer, what is important is that they should be very business-minded in their approach and have a quick process, and right now, that's not what we see, and therefore it drags on for too long. The decision level is not in the hands of the people the entreprene

Industry committee  If I may, what you're alluding to is the fact that the people who manage big pools of money have to decide between asset classes and they have to decide whether we are investing in technology or in natural resources or commodity factors. The natural resources sector has been pret

Industry committee  Well, venture capital has increased gradually since 2002 with the new mandate that was given to BDC to invest in knowledge-based industries. So we've increased the venture capital from a much smaller number at the time. I don't have the accurate figure right now, but I would say

Industry committee  Yes, it's about that in terms of dollars.

Industry committee  Briefly, sir, it could be to encourage people to get out of their technology investments. It's a matter of rebalancing risk and reward. So you're selling the investment at a given price. If the investor can keep more, you're rebalancing the risk that they've taken at the beginnin

Industry committee  I do not know about the others but it is one of our concerns. We want to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to become an entrepreneur and to get funding for their company.

Industry committee  I want to start with that article in the Globe and Mail. The reporter stated that we provide our support too long to companies that have no hope of success. It is easy to say after the fact that a given company could not succeed. When you are working in that company, it is much m

Industry committee  It is working very well. These are not investments that we would call venture capital. They are investments of subordinated debt in order to loan money to companies that have no assets to provide as collateral but have good results and will have good cashflow in the future. The a

Industry committee  I believe that this situation is improving. We deal with more and more female entrepreneurs and female CEOs. Many of them have very good results and are very successful in business.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Honorable members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege to be here today. I thank you very much for your invitation As you know, BDC is Canada's business development bank. We offer tailored financial services, information, and advice.

International Trade committee  In the venture capital portfolio, the nature of the investment means that they are all high-tech companies that are in the process of building technological platforms and products that they will then sell. Sometimes they have started selling them already, sometimes the sales come