Finance Committee on Oct. 3rd, 2018

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We'll call the meeting to order.

We are one member short for a while this morning. Peter Julian had to go back to Ottawa, and I expect Mr. Fergus will soon be here.

Welcome to all the witnesses to our pre-budget consultations for budget 2019. We appreciate anybody who has sent in their submissions prior to this meeting, and we really appreciate your coming today to make your remarks to the committee.

For those witnesses sitting at the table who may not know, we'll start that session at 9 o'clock. When we are on the road, we have open mike sessions, which give organizations and individuals the opportunity to go to a floor mike and make a one-minute statement on issues of concern. It does go into the record and it is considered by the committee. There are no questions for those witnesses from committee members, just so you know what it's about.

We'll start with the open mike session now.

Mr. Jonathan Larochelle, go ahead. You may speak in whatever language you prefer. There are translation services for members.

[Jonathan Larochelle, Engineers Without Borders Canada]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Hello.

My name is Jonathan Larochelle, and I am a member of the Université Laval chapter of Engineers Without Borders Canada.

With regard to the international assistance envelope, I would like Canada to commit, in budget 2019, to a 10-year schedule for the predictable annual increase of 15%.

This request is based on recommendation no. 85 in last year's pre-budget consultations report and on a report on Canada published in mid-September by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD.

The commitment made in budget 2018 to increase support for the official development assistance program or ODA is encouraging. However, despite this increased support, Canada's ODA spending remains close to its historic low and falls well below the support promised by our global peers.

ODA is fundamental to our global prosperity, and investments in that regard support vital services, such as health care and education, in some of the least developed countries.

Increasing ODA based on a predictable schedule in budget 2019 would show that Canada is a committed world leader that is helping to create a better world for everyone.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Serge Boisseau, go ahead.

[Serge Boisseau, National Association of Federal Retirees]

Hello, Mr. Chair.

My name is Serge Boisseau. I'm the second vice-president of the National Association of Federal Retirees, Quebec branch. The association has 175,000 members in Canada.

We are calling on the government to help Canadians improve their retirement security, to keep its promises to retirees when it amends the pension programs, and to continue to improve the Canada pension plan and old age security.

The first step in that direction would be the immediate withdrawal of Bill C-27, which enables employers to break pension-related promises to their employees. The defined benefit pension plan is the most effective way of ensuring retirement security.

In short, retirees are important to our economy. Their retirement security benefits not only them but also their communities and the entire country.

Retirees continue to be active consumers, whether it be by travelling, paying taxes or making consumer purchases. Good retirement income security leads to better health, which reduces the burden on the health care system.

Thank you and have a pleasant day.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Raymond Cimon is next.

Hello.

[Raymond Cimon, Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation]

Hello, Mr. Chair.

My name is Raymond Cimon, and I'm one of the administrators of the Réseau des Sociétés d'aide au développement des collectivités et Centre d'aide aux entreprises, or the Réseau des SADC et CAE, du Québec, the treasurer to be more precise. The network is made up of 67 members in Quebec and over 269 members across Canada.

In Quebec, we are currently working on renewing agreements related to SADC and CAE activities. There has been no increase in the budget for such activities since 2013. We need funding to retain our staff and, of course, to continue our good work on the ground.

We also need funding so that we can lend more money to Quebec businesses. Because of the upheaval affecting financial institutions, businesses have new needs to continue to grow.

Every year, we lend approximately $86 million to various businesses in Quebec. More funding is also needed to enable the common fund, what we in Quebec refer to as “Capital Réseau”, to help them. This is a kind of fund that helps businesses that require a little more capital.

Investing in SADCs and CAEs constitutes an indirect investment in innovation and in the development of our rural communities. Funding for local development helps people take more responsibility for their own communities.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Raymond, we didn't catch the name of your organization. Could you give us the organization name, please?

[Raymond Cimon]

It is the Réseau des Sociétés d'aide au développement des collectivités et Centre d'aide aux entreprises, or the Réseau des SADC et CAE, du Québec.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you very much.

Next is Mr. Jolin Ferland.

Hello.

[Jolin Ferland, Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation]

Hello.

My name is Jolin Ferland, and I work for the Réseau des SADC et CAE, the same organization that Mr. Cimon just talked about.

I don't want to repeat what Mr. Cimon said. I simply want to add that the federal government implemented SADCs and CAEs many years ago, thirty years ago to be exact. SADCs and CAEs are a wonderful gateway for the federal government to every region of Canada.

We are calling on the government to make better use of our network so that we can help small communities, local businesses and local development projects. We want our small communities to survive. It is therefore important for the government to invest in our network. We have members all across Canada. Use them.

As Mr. Cimon said, we have been short of funding since 2003, and we will be making representations in that regard in the coming months.

Today, as we speak, a meeting called “Day on the Hill" is being held in Ottawa, and more than 100 representatives of our organizations are there to talk to federal MPs. As for us, we wanted to be here this morning to also make our voice heard as part of these consultations.

We cannot make all of our representations today. That is why I suggest that you contact Hélène Deslauriers, the executive director of the Réseau des SADC et CAE, who will explain what we are requesting as part of these consultations.

We want to be included in the federal government's 2019 budget.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you.

Xavier Cadoret, you have the floor.

[Xavier Cadoret, ONE Campaign]

Hello hon. members.

My name is Xavier Cadoret, and I'm a member of ONE in Canada.

Did you know that, every year, 2.7 million children die at birth, that adolescent girls account for 74% of all new HIV infections, and that, today alone, 800 children will die of disease?

Those are alarming statistics, but there is hope. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, our committee recommended that Canada set a goal of investing 0.7% of its gross national income in official development assistance by 2030.

I am here today to call upon the Government of Canada to follow that recommendation in budget 2019 and to increase Canadian spending on international development and humanitarian aid over the next 10 years with predictable annual increases of 15% to the international assistance envelope as of 2019.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you very much.

Before we begin with the witnesses, we'll go around and ask members to introduce themselves.

I'm Wayne Easter, member of Parliament with the governing party. I'm from the riding of Malpeque, Prince Edward Island. If you've had those good oysters, that's where they come from.

We'll start with Leona this time.

[Leona Alleslev, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, CPC]

Good morning. I'm Leona Alleslev, member of Parliament for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, which is just north of Toronto.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Hello.

I'm Pat Kelly, member for Calgary Rocky Ridge.

[Peter Fragiskatos, London North Centre, Lib.]

Hello.

My name is Peter Fragiskatos, and I'm the member for London North Centre. It's a pleasure.

to be with you this morning. Thank you very much.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Hello.

My name is Francesco Sorbara, and I'm the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge, which is near Toronto.

I am very proud to be here today in beautiful Quebec City.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Hello.

My name is Greg Fergus, and I'm the member for Hull—Aylmer, the other part of the national capital region, in the Outaouais.

I have been a member of the House of Commons since 2015 and a member of the Standing Committee on Finance since 2016. It is a pleasure to come back to Quebec City, one of my favourite cities in our beautiful country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Welcome, all.

We will begin with l'Association pour la recherche au collégial, Ms. Lynn Lapostolle and Mr. Poulin.

[Lynn Lapostolle, Director General, Association pour la recherche au collégial]

Hello.

Welcome to Quebec City. I agree. It is a beautiful city. Thank you for being here and for meeting with us here in our city.

My name is Lynn Lapostolle.

“Lynn” is maybe easier, so use “Lynn”. It's fine with me.

I represent the Association pour la recherche au collégial.

We could say “association for college research” in Quebec.

Our association thanks you for giving us the opportunity to come and speak about the purpose of the brief we submitted.

The mission of our organization is to promote all college research, that is basic, applied research in natural sciences and engineering, in the humanities and social sciences, and in health, whether it be in CEGEPs, subsidized private colleges or government schools. We have all of those here in Quebec.

We are interested in all of the research conducted by college researchers, whether it is in French or in English. That is what we promote and that is what we would like to draw your attention to this morning.

We are counting on the support that the Government of Canada can provide to these institutions and to college professors, researchers and students who are interested in research, because all of these people often work in partnership with Canadian businesses. That is really what we want to talk about this morning.

Our first recommendation relates to the need for strong government support for the direct costs of research in the upcoming budget. Research is a hallmark of higher education, and colleges are post-secondary institutions. That is the first very important thing to remember. The difference is that, at the college level, research is a voluntary activity. That means that the people who have been doing research in Quebec's colleges for the past 50 years care passionately about it. That is the second very important thing to remember, and we will talk more about it later. Any support provided must take into account that reality or characteristic of college research.

There are colleges and affiliated research, transfer and technology access centres located all across Quebec. There are approximately 80 institutions, not counting the research, transfer and technology access centres. These institutions are closely connected and share a relationship of trust with industry, which is made up of many small and medium-sized businesses both in Quebec and Canada. These colleges have been conducting an increasing amount of research in recent years. This increased research has helped to improve modern production techniques, and thus the competitiveness of businesses. It has also helped to solve social problems that impact the growth of the GDP, the deficit and Canada's economic development.

Of course, social science and humanities research has to be considered in a somewhat different light. We included references to that in the documentation we provided. We can talk about it more later. We are very appreciative to the Government of Canada for creating a social innovation fund for community research. This fund could use more resources, and colleges are prepared to help support that measure.

Funding has not increased in proportion with the rise in research activities. That is the first thing I wanted to point out. How can we obtain support for the direct costs of research in order to relieve researchers of some of their mandatory duties?

As I was saying, the work these researchers do is on a purely voluntary basis and is not part of their mandatory duties. We must therefore free professors from some of their duties so that they can conduct research. How can college researchers obtain direct funding to help them deal with the growing demands? Some of these demands are related to sustainable development, research data and the advancement of women with careers in higher education and research.

Monday, I participated in a workshop on a made-in-Canada Athena SWAN initiative. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, or NSERC, is holding consultations about that right now. This is a new demand that may soon need to be met. We therefore need more support for those costs.

[Robert Poulin, Retired Manager, Association pour la recherche au collégial]

My name is Robert Poulin, and I'm an administrator for the same association.

Our second recommendation has to do with indirect costs. For colleges, that means expenditures that were not associated with one project in particular. Such expenditures include the cost of managing and administering research activities, research facilities, research resources, and the regulatory requirements and standards that colleges must meet in order to be eligible for the various programs offered by the three councils. They also include the cost of managing and administering intellectual property and knowledge mobilization.

If the institutions were to receive money to cover their indirect research costs, they would be in a better position to help businesses at every stage, including research, technology transfer to businesses, training on how the new technology works, and the marketing and production of goods. This would make Canadian businesses more competitive on international markets.

We are finding that some of the research funding programs administered by the three councils cover some of the indirect costs, but the amounts that are currently being allocated are not nearly sufficient. Take, for example, the research support fund, which was included in the last budget. The amounts granted to institutions in 2016-17 varied from $402 to $38,827 for a total of $203,487.

According to the work done by Colleges and Institutes Canada, the indirect research needs of all colleges and institutes across Canada amount to $40 million. The $203 million that Quebec colleges received in 2016-17 is far cry from the $10 million that they usually get.

[Lynn Lapostolle]

You mean $203,000.

[Robert Poulin]

Yes. We received only $203,000 in 2016-17.

[Lynn Lapostolle]

Our third recommendation concerns the students, who are the lifeblood of Quebec colleges. If they lived in other provinces, perhaps they would be attending a university. The systems are somewhat different.

Many are very interested, available and curious. They want to develop what UNESCO refers to as their critical thinking and analytical skills. That is what businesses need. They need people to work on site and to do research for them or people who will create new leading edge companies. Research is interesting work and students like it. We would like businesses to have the means to hire even more students for their research projects, and those resources would make it possible to better develop tomorrow's talent.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Is that it, or is there one more?