Natural Resources Committee on Oct. 3rd, 2011

[Anil Arora]

Yes. I don't have that with me, but we could provide you with that.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

In addition, could we have a breakdown of investors? For instance, what is the proportion of Asians, Canadians or Americans? Would that also be possible?

[Anil Arora]

Yes, but I am not sure whether that is my exclusive responsibility. I will check. I may not have all of those figures, but—

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

That could give us some parameters.

[Anil Arora]

It would certainly give you some idea.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

The figures don't necessarily need to be accurate to the nearest million dollars.

My next question concerns what we see on the slide, where it says “Future Northern Economic Development''. On the map of northern Quebec, although it says “Future Potential” and “Anticipated Projects” to the side, there is nothing at all. How come?

[Anil Arora]

The map is focused on areas north of the 60^th parallel.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Yes, but one part of Quebec meets that definition.

[Anil Arora]

As you know, we are working with the Government of Quebec on developing the potential that exists in northern Quebec, with the Plan Nord more specifically. This is a big investment that also comes with big challenges. As you know, there is a lot of potential in northern Quebec.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Would it be accurate to say that there is assistance available for prospection in the large lots discovered by Natural Resources Canada? Could that be expressed in that way? If not, would it be a mistake to put it that way?

[Anil Arora]

As I mentioned earlier, there are two programs specifically: GEM and TGI, and we work with the Government of Quebec to invest and have a better idea of the geology and its potential, etc.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Would it be possible to obtain more specific figures for northern Quebec and all of the territories so that we could see how this is allocated everywhere?

[Anil Arora]

Of course, and this again falls directly under my colleague Mr. Gray's responsibility, and he will be—

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

He will be there?

[Anil Arora]

Yes.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

He will be able to tell us about the breakdown and tell us how all of this is invested.

[Anil Arora]

Yes.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Afterwards, once this prospecting assistance is dispensed, is there a limit? Is it then up to private enterprise to continue with its own prospection, as I would expect? You don't actually dig the hole for them.

How are these standards set? Who has determined what role Natural Resources Canada plays, and at what point do we tell the private sector that it is up to it to carry on with prospection?

[Anil Arora]

That is an excellent question. As I mentioned, our role as a government is mainly to provide geoscience expertise, for instance regarding maps, or geology, at a level that is acceptable to everyone. That however is only the beginning. To get a better idea of the potential, private industry must invest.

As you know, in Canada we have a venture capital fund that is the biggest in the world in a sector... in Toronto, for instance, we have the TSX venture capital fund. It is something that increases prospecting activity everywhere in Canada, even in Quebec.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

[Inaudible—Editor] this is not due to the funding.

As for infrastructure, in order to make it possible to get into some of the more remote areas such as those found in northern Quebec—the Quebec government recently announced a $1.4 billion funding package for a single road to make the north more accessible—how will the levels of responsibility be determined? Because this sort of activity can require a lot infrastructure, like landing strips.

[Anil Arora]

Yes, as you mentioned, I think the Government of Quebec has invested $2.1 billion, together with a group which will be responsible for governance, for the way in which this money is used.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

And what is the federal responsibility in all of that?

[Anil Arora]

As with most of our agreements, there are of course discussions among the governments to find a way of investing together.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

And so the infrastructure needed in order to get into the more remote parts of the north are the subject of negotiations, discussions.

[Anil Arora]

Yes. This is once again something my colleague from Transport Canada, and Industry Canada can—