Canada funding women entrepreneurs, says Punjab-origin minister
TORONTO: A “feminist” Canada is investing nearly $2 billion Canadian dollars (about ₹10,000 crore) as seed capital in businesses led by its women entrepreneurs, said a senior woman minister here.
“As Canada is committed to encourage women to grow businesses, we have allocated nearly $2 billion in the fiscal 2018-19 budget for investing in businesses run by women entrepreneurs,” Punjab-origin Canadian small business minister Bardish Chagger told IANS in an interview here. The Canadian government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has also a women’s entrepreneurship strategy in the budget to assist women-led ventures grow and help their nation prosper.
Though born and raised in Canada, 38-uear-old Chagger’s parents migrated from Punjab in the 1970s and settled here.
The first woman leader of government in the Canadian House of Commons as a member of parliament (MP) from Waterloo in Ontario, Chagger also holds the tourism portfolio since 2016.
Referring to her Indian origins, Chagger said her grandfather would not have imagined migrating to this country and his granddaughter getting elected to become a cabinet minister.
“But Canada stands for providing equal opportunities for everyone regardless of their origin and regions,” she said.
Canadian Parliament in Ottawa recognised Punjabi as the third most-spoken language, after English and French, said Chagger. IANS