Industry committee  That's probably a question best placed for the Department of Foreign Affairs or CIC. We have a bit of a data problem, in that we hear from various parts of the ICT industry, in particular, that they don't have this or that type of skill set or that many of their jobs are taking a

Industry committee  I think we want to make sure that all tools are available to ensure that the new competition is successful.

Industry committee  The extraordinary news about Canada is that the private sector has been very successful, for a country this size with a population density our size, in reaching large numbers of Canadians. Bell, Telus, and Rogers have over 90% of the population now covered by their new wireless n

Industry committee  I'm unable to give you detail on how the government will approach the auctions. That will be something that my minister would be announcing in due course. I can say that during the broadband program we tried to be as open as possible to different technologies, because they don't

Industry committee  In 2008, in an auction of what was called AWS--advanced wireless services--spectrum, the government had a set-aside, and they wanted to get new entrants in. Therefore, only very small players were allowed to bid on this. That brought in at least four, if not more, new entrants. Y

Industry committee  In the 2011 budget, the new IRAP received $80 million over three years.

Industry committee  About $27 million a year is available under the new IRAP, and it's between $3 million and $4 million for the Small Business Internship Program. However, I don't have the numbers for the BDC. You are right, it's about $30 million, but that might not include certain programs. For

Industry committee  No, it's for the Small Business Internship Program. I don't have the BDC's numbers in front of me. It's a program which awards grants, a bit like IRAP.

Industry committee  Many people see that the Canadian marketplace is small and that therefore, to be successful, even as a small firm growing you need to look very early at what an export market opportunity would be, because you can leverage what you are doing. Canada has to sell to a broader market

Industry committee  We look at what other countries do. I think Canada is a little unusual in its industrial structure, in that we have an enormous number of small businesses, as distinct from larger businesses, which you wouldn't find in many other nations. So the nature of our problem is a little

Industry committee  I think Industry Canada's budget for the program that helps small businesses, the Small business Internship Program, is $3.5 million this year. For the six years the program will last, from 2009 to 2014, I think that total is $17.5 million.

Industry committee  I'm sorry if I disappoint you by giving you a rather limited answer, as it's a program that's run by one of my colleagues. My understanding is that it's essentially aimed at getting kids their first job. So it's an internship, but it's also focused on students with a background

Industry committee  My understanding is that we have selected 17 organizations across the country that will pick the firms they will be dealing with and assisting, and that the government is picking up as much as 75% of the cost of the intern for a defined period of time.

Industry committee  I think you are putting your finger on one of the fundamental problems, which is the lack of awareness. Small businesses often don't have the time to do the research to figure out how they could best use technologies to become more productive or efficient and what technologies to

Industry committee  Thank you very much. Your committee will be undertaking a study on e-commerce in Canada. I would like to take this opportunity to provide your members with Industry Canada's perspective on e-commerce and related issues. First, I will briefly explain e-commerce and where Canada