Industry Committee on Sept. 28th, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Then go ahead. I'm just giving you some warning. If you want to make some closing comments, you can.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

I'm just going to continue the line of questioning I was on in regard to the issues that will be before this committee and before the Parliament over the coming months, probably.

There's a lot of talk about the digital economy strategy and the five pillars of the digital economy strategy. Could you go into detail on the five pillars so we could understand the strategy a little better?

[Richard Dicerni]

First is infrastructure. We have to make sure the pipe is there. We've got to make sure people are able to communicate. So the spectrum auction will go a long way towards permitting carriers to acquire spectrum and then build out to reach more effectively. I think the AWS auction was successful. If you look at the deployment that's taking place in Quebec, Vidéotron is spending a ton of money to go head to head with Rogers, Bell, and Telus, and we're seeing meaningful competition. Related to that is the broadband initiative the government undertook.

So infrastructure is one. Second is having a solid legislative framework. It's copyright, privacy legislation, spam.... Those things are important to ensure that in a digital world individuals know what their rights are and can feel secure in transacting on a commercial basis over the Internet.

Third is the ICT adoption. We've got to become more ICT-literate across the country. So we're working with BDC, we're working with IRAP, we're working with the provinces to become more ICT-literate.

Fourth, we need an ICT sector. Canada has great universities that produce great engineers, great technicians, great colleges. We have to keep priming that pump. There was a decrease after the bubble burst in 2000 in terms of kids taking up computer studies in universities and colleges. We're working with the provinces to see what we can do to ensure that we have a tech-savvy workplace, because if you want to have a great sector, if you want to have a growing ICT sector, it's going to grow through people who will come up with the great ideas.

So we need to be technologically savvy, which is my last point. We can do this through EDC. EDC supports many of the companies that make products here and sell them abroad. EDC is a big player there. As I said, by combining the enhancement of the workforce with the sector, the sector will grow if there are qualified people. So we have to work with the provinces to ensure that people going through colleges and universities understand the importance and the growth opportunities of the ICT sector.

So those are the five. And I would say that the digital strategy is in some ways evergreen, because we keep unveiling different tranches. When the government introduces copyright and PIPEDA legislation, it will be another element, if you wish, of the digital strategy being unfolded.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Thank you. I'd like to go further on that, but I think I want to use the last little bit of my time to clarify the R and D question.

It seemed that you and Mr. Julian were on different pages in terms of Canada's funding for research over the years. I know what it feels like to be on a different page from Mr. Julian. We from time to time are on different pages as well.

Can you clarify Canada's funding levels for research and development and our role in funding over the past several years? And as you're answering that, could you touch on the successes of the knowledge infrastructure program? I know that was an important program for several stakeholders.

[Richard Dicerni]

I'd love to see Mr. Julian after, to see his numbers, because if you take a look at this pie chart and look at the one that was done in 2007-2008, there's more money being spent in those various granting councils than there was four years ago. So there has to be more support given. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize, but I'd like to see the data.

In terms of KIP, the knowledge infrastructure program, it's really a success story in terms of public administration, federal-provincial relations, and with regard to improving the fundamental infrastructure that our post-secondary institutions need to have if they are to welcome and attract top-notch academic leaders.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Dicerni.

Thank you, Mr. Lake.

By the way, in case members are wondering, we're in these rooms where we have two different times on the clocks, so I'm using our BlackBerrys as clocks. We generally all have parliamentary BlackBerrys. We're at 4:53 right now, and I will just give an opportunity to Mr. Dicerni to give some closing comments and then we can get you on your way in a timely fashion.

[Richard Dicerni]

My only general comment is that last year my colleagues and I appeared eleven times in front of parliamentary committees, including obviously the industry committee. We went to public accounts; we went to heritage; we went to a variety of committees. We fully understand that appearing in front of parliamentary committees is an increasingly important part of our job. So I would say that if you have any individual questions that flow from the testimony we've given today, please don't hesitate to ask. Send us a note, and we'll provide you with additional information. We can do that directly or through the clerk if it's a committee request.

The sessions that we as officials have when we appear before committees are not always enjoyable. I would like to leave you, though, with a couple of thoughts. We do our very best under at times difficult circumstances, and we value the civility of the dialogue, the exchange, because there are a lot of people who work really hard to make this whole thing work. We'll show up whenever you ask us.

A number of my colleagues, deputy ministers, ask, "What are you doing? What bill are you testifying on? The estimates aren't right?" And I say "No, the government and the committee have asked us to come and discuss Industry Canada's portfolio".

We will share whatever information we can, because doing so will provide for much better exchanges over the course of the next four years. So we will gladly do what we can so we can have the same level of knowledge, because having that will lead to better exchanges over the course of the next 48 months.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Dicerni. I will be absolutely happy to be a catalyst of encouragement to maintain our reputation as a committee of civility. I thank you very much for your comments.

Before you go, I would like to mention that Madam Gallant has made a request regarding an organizational chart, so please take that as a directive from the committee to send that through to the clerk and then we'll distribute it to all the members.

Thank you very much for your testimony.

Members of the committee, before you go, we've received witness lists from the Conservative Party and the NDP. We have not received any witness list from the Liberal Party. Could you provide that in a timely fashion? It gets very difficult to invite people when they have to travel quite a distance and we only give them a few hours' notice. If you have some, get them over to the clerk right away, and we'll deal with the lists and start to invite witnesses for next week.

On that note, thank you very much, members and witnesses.

The meeting is adjourned.