THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT BPW Canada commends the Task Force for the work on its report;FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT BPW Canada urges the Prime Minister of Canada and Government of Canada to begin implementing the recommendations of the Task Force by establishing an Office of Women�s Business Ownership, as recommended by Recommendation 1.01 of the Task Force.AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the BPW Canada urges the Government of Canada to fulfill the promises made by the former Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chr�tien, in his speech on October 29, 2003 at the official presentation of the �Report� recommendationsThe federal government will extend the Women�s Enterprise Initiative funded by Western Economic Diversification Canada. The federal government will commit to multi-year funding for the Women in Business Initiative in Atlantic Canada. The federal government will create two new Women Enterprise Centres in Ontario and Quebec. The federal government will instruct Industry Canada to work with women entrepreneurs on the issue of micro lending in these centres. The federal government will organize a national Women�s Economic Forum to extend the work of the Task Force. The federal government will also, for the first time, create a Canadian Women�s Innovation Award. As part of the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, this new Innovation Award will help raise the profile of women entrepreneurs and encourage young women to guide their own careers. The federal government will expand its research and publications program to better meet the needs of women entrepreneurs, and the federal government will ensure that this program provides policymakers with information about emerging issues. The federal government will be raising entrepreneurship in future federal-provincial and territorial meetings so that all levels of government are aware of the concerns of women entrepreneurs. The federal government will continue its focus on Aboriginal women entrepreneurs to identify their needs. The government will be developing a business-planning guide to help Aboriginal women break into new markets. The Prime Minister will ask the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board to examine the situation that Aboriginal women face in the field of entrepreneurship. To provide Canadian women entrepreneurs with opportunities to expand their markets beyond our borders, the federal government will ensure that women entrepreneurs continue to be represented in Canada�s trade promotion activities and on trade missions. AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that BPW Canada urges the Government of Canada to further study the results of the Task Force and implement the remaining recommendations of the Task Force.
