Government Operations committee  We definitely can do that. We've demonstrated that innovation is alive in Canada. Particularly, by continuing to support that fabric of small and medium-sized enterprise and the innovative thinking that we're seeing happening at that level—by continuing to sustain those business

Government Operations committee  No. It was all volunteer. If I were not on the supply council, I would not have the audience that I have today. As an aboriginal business association, this is an important audience for us. The opportunity to be on the supply council and support that work continues to help us wor

Government Operations committee  As the Canadian council, we do have an MOU. We work very closely with EDC and BDC in supporting indigenous entrepreneurs. They are making some significant progress. We're able to see some real gains in that area in the work that they're doing directly with indigenous entrepreneur

Government Operations committee  Thank you. I do not have that answer at this time.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. Meegwetch. As I said, I think that the supply council was an opportunity for us as an indigenous association—as well as for other minority associations—to have a voice at a table that maybe we don't always have the opportunity to have. That conversation did lead to th

Government Operations committee  No, I can't answer that.

Government Operations committee  The meetings were scheduled for an hour and a half to two hours. As Mr. McHattie said, we did have quite an extensive round table in those meetings for sharing ideas.

Government Operations committee  I would not be able to answer that.

Government Operations committee  No.

Government Operations committee  I was, yes.

Government Operations committee  From the meetings that I was on and the information I shared, I would have no concern with it being made public.

Government Operations committee  I can start with that one. As an indigenous person running an indigenous business association, it was definitely an honour that there was a place for us to speak about the importance of indigenous business and minority-owned businesses. As Mr. McHattie said, there were some gr

Government Operations committee  Yes. I definitely support the federal—

Government Operations committee  I think there's definitely a need for closing the loop on procurement. Even with some of the procurement we saw specifically with PPE, indigenous businesses were not eligible for or were not able to obtain the contract. When they asked to have a debrief to understand why, the ans

Government Operations committee  I have not spoken to my colleagues at the Black Chamber or WEOC specifically about this. I think one thing that we do definitely find for indigenous businesses is that quite often they're funnelled towards one ministry whereas women-owned businesses are not necessarily funnelled