Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members.
Thank you in advance for your attention.
I know that you received our submission.
Our recommendations are clearly stated in our submission, and here today I will only provide you with key highlights and updates.
My message is very clear. The worldwide future for aerospace is very bright, and it is our collective duty--industry, universities, governments, and the whole community--to ensure we are part of that extraordinary future.
Let's remember that in 2008 Canadian aerospace directly employed 83,000 people in high-value-added, high-paid jobs in every region of the country. It is truly a national industry whose impact is important in all regions and all communities. In my view, this has been demonstrated by the creation this year of a non-partisan parliamentary committee chaired by a true Canadian hero, Marc Garneau, and co-chaired by members from all parties. This is again a confirmation of the importance of aerospace across our country. In 2008 we produced $23.6 billion worth of goods, 83% of which were exported.
Looking at the future, let's keep in mind the rapid expansion of the middle class in China, India, eastern Europe, and Latin America. The demand for travel and movement of goods across oceans will require, according to the best estimates, over the next 20 years the addition of 22,000 to 25,000 planes at a cost of over $3 trillion. That's $3,000 billion over the next 20 years. We in Canada need to be part of that exceptional opportunity to create high-value-added jobs.
I'd like to provide some updates to our brief.
Minister Clement announced a $200-million investment in SADI over the next four years. He announced this last August. We are very grateful for this Government of Canada support to aerospace, and we thank the minister and his colleagues, since they were able to move this decision along. And this was referred to in our brief. Of course, we will continue to seek further SADI partnerships to build on our successes.
The federal government has also announced a review of defence procurement policies. We welcome this initiative and have submitted a comprehensive document outlining the position of the industry. The objective of the review is to optimize the impact of aerospace military spending on the creation of long-term value-added jobs across the country. Note that this has little impact on government spending. It is simply a matter of spending smarter. In this regard, it should be noted that the revisions to the industrial and regional benefits policy--the first revisions in 23 years, since 1986--announced a month ago, again by Minister Clement, are very welcome and represent, again, ways to spend smarter rather than more. Once more we congratulate the minister for having tackled this issue.
In conclusion, aerospace is an industry of the future. Its impact is felt across the whole country. We need to work together to have Canada share in that future.
I invite my colleague Maryse Harvey to add a few remarks.