Evidence of meeting #35 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was coins.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
We got it at 320 Sussex Drive. That's where the Royal Canadian Mint is, and that's where this technology was developed, in-house.
4:10 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
It is Canadian ingenuity that has really paid off. It's something of which we should really be proud.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and welcome to our guests.
The mint in Winnipeg is in my riding, and I'm very proud of it. I can tell you--I know a lot of people who work there. It's more than a benefit. There's a very positive atmosphere, for some reason, in that place. I've visited it on several occasions. Keep up the good work.
I'd just like to talk to you about the relationship between Tennessee and Canada again. Just so I understand, are you selling the technology? You're not selling the coins. Do you sell the technology and then you get a percentage back, or how does that work exactly?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
We license the technology. We can rely upon Jarden to produce blanks for our circulation coins, and on that we don't extract a royalty, but if they were to use that technology on a contract that they might have, we would get a royalty on any sales they have. I think it's in the order of 15%.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
That's 15%.
Are you concerned about any upcoming countries--China or India--competing with us, or is the technology so far advanced that you're not concerned about that?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
Well, it is patented, but patents do run out, and this one will start to run out in 2010 or 2012. Yes, we're worried about that, so those clever individuals over at 320 Sussex are still doing their research to see if we can further improve the product and get the patent refreshed, to use the jargon, so that we will take another step forward in the level of technology that we're able to sell and market.
India is not a competitor; China is not a competitor in this business. European mints are competitors in the circulation coin business. We worry about the British. We worry about the Dutch Mint. In numismatic products, the bullion products, the Austrian Mint is a big competitor of ours. So we're kept on our toes.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
As my colleague was saying here, the margins are fairly slim, and even the projections for the margins are fairly slim over the next period.
What point are you at in your collective bargaining process? Have you settled for five years or...?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
I wish. The collective bargaining agreements expire at the end of this year, so we're in the process now of preparing for collective bargaining and so is the union.
The Mint has a pretty good labour history. It had some black marks in the early 1990s, when there was a strike, but it is certainly an objective of mine--and I think of the union's as well--to maintain the good will. So we're optimistic.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
I know the Mint is also a very good corporate citizen, and if I'm not mistaken, maybe a couple of years ago there was a story that the Mint had a program that funded community groups, and it was very much skewed towards certain areas. I'm not sure if it was Ontario. I'm not sure exactly. Do you know if that's been remedied, or do you know what I'm talking about?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
That's one I haven't been fully briefed on, so I'm going to ask Ms. Nadeau.
February 13th, 2007 / 4:15 p.m.
Marguerite Nadeau Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Royal Canadian Mint
I don't quite know what you're referring to.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
No? I know that in our community, for instance, you can ask the Mint for sponsorship when you have certain events, and they do that.
If I'm not mistaken, maybe a year and a half ago or so, there was a story that said a lot of those sponsorship dollars were going to one specific region, and they were supposed to work on that.
4:15 p.m.
Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Royal Canadian Mint
All I can say is we do have a sponsorship policy that we've developed. We get approached from time to time by different regions of Canada, for good causes--it can be for cancer or it can be for community events. Each one is looked at individually and we have a framework that we take it through, and then some are approved.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
Your facilities, for instance, in Winnipeg are huge facilities, but they're 30 or 40 years old--I'm not sure exactly how old. You have to continue reinvesting in them. Your profits are fairly slim. Are your profits reinvested in these facilities, or are they given as a dividend back to the government? How does that work exactly?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
When I was in the Department of Finance as deputy minister I thought the Mint should be paying more dividends. I no longer do.
But you're right, you're absolutely right. The facility in Winnipeg was built in the mid-1970s. Some of the machinery is still original--those presses that I was talking about--so we do have to renew them. We have increased the capacity in Winnipeg over time. We've installed a plating facility. We doubled its size. We've built onto the building. Further investments are ones that we are considering in Winnipeg.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
Are there major investments coming up that you can foresee would really cut into the profits, or not necessarily?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
No, I think the investments--
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Canadian Mint
Yes, absolutely. Those investments are planned. I'm really quite confident, although we are in a volatile business, I want to underline that. So if I come back here and we haven't quite made our targets, I want to have an excuse.
It is a volatile business. One of the things I've said to my people is that what I value is to be on your toes and to be able to react to change. In the environment in which we live, change is always possible--in fact, likely.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I will follow up on the question by Mr. Simard in terms of the profit for the shareholder, that is, Canada, the Government of Canada. Could you just summarize how that happens, the mechanism?
