Evidence of meeting #45 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was federal.
Managing Director, eBay Canada Limited
Yes. We would see an increase in trading activity.
Most of what Canadian sellers sell is sold outside Canada. On eBay, we define a commercial seller as someone selling more than $10,000 a year, so these are still micro-businesses, one- or two-person businesses. More than half of their volume comes from exports. They're really challenged, because their competitiveness needs to be assessed versus, traditionally speaking, that of a U.S. business.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
That's on the export side. How many Canadians do you employ?
Managing Director, eBay Canada Limited
We have a small but mighty team in Toronto. For example, Kimberley was telling me that she's just hired an extra person to help with her business here in Dartmouth. The tiny businesses, the microbusinesses, the small businesses that use eBay as a platform, are exactly those businesses that are typical of small and medium-sized businesses—one-, two-, 10-, 15-person businesses—across the country.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Increasing the activities may not necessarily increase any jobs.
Managing Director, eBay Canada Limited
Oh, absolutely I think it would increase jobs, because these small businesses would be more effective in their ability to tap into international markets and would therefore need more jobs at home in order to sustain that.
I'll give you the example of a bike store in Gatineau. A man paid off his bike store ahead of schedule as a result of starting to sell on eBay. He's now done in excess of $20 million—mostly international volume—has bought a second store, and has hired staff at that second store. These are direct economic benefits into his home community as a result of being able to tap into international demand.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
You're asking us to propose a $166-million investment to get $33 million in tax revenues. How did you come up with that? How precise are those figures?
Managing Director, eBay Canada Limited
That study was done by economists working with the C.D. Howe Institute. It was peer reviewed. It looked at public data as well as private data from companies like eBay and data from courier companies. I think it is the most comprehensive study on this topic globally in the last 10 years, and certainly the most comprehensive study ever done in Canada.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
I think this is one area where we need to be very careful, because CRA is not stupid enough to propose those resources just to get $33 million and make a hassle over a business operation.
Thank you.
I'm going to move to Memorial University. Mr. Greenwood, you asked for $25 million on the expansion side and then another $35 million, so about $60 million altogether for a niche operation or product. What you provide in education is unique. Why can you not go to the private sector? Why can you not fund your own expansion as a profitable business?
Executive Director, Public Engagement, Memorial University of Newfoundland
I'll let Glenn speak to the Holyrood facility and the expenditure required there. If we require details, Charles could step up and speak to C-CORE.
The general point I would highlight goes back again to the fact that there are only so many dollars to spend. Mr. Albas made an impression on me. Of course my point, and the focus of this committee, is on how we grow the economy.
In terms of the work in the north and the ice—and it actually dovetails nicely with Ron MacDonald's work—climate change is impacting the opportunities and the challenges in Canada's north, the north Atlantic, and the Arctic worldwide. Regarding the ocean transport opportunities, Transport Canada has come to Memorial, saying they need to develop regulations to develop and enable mining and fishery ocean transport in the north. It is a massive new economic opportunity.
Charles, if you want, pick it up there and speak to the question more precisely, and then maybe Glenn could speak on Holyrood.
Dr. Charles Randell As an Individual
Sure. This is in terms of the facility, the Sedna Centre for oil spill work. In fact, the private sector has come to the table with $30 million to put into this facility.
As an Individual
Well, they have spent about $750,000 so far doing a lot of upfront work. This facility is going to be built somewhere in the world. Right now in Canada, you cannot develop the Arctic unless you can prove that you can respond to an oil spill on ice, and you're—correctly—not allowed to spill oil on ice, so you can't prove that you can respond. You can't test technology.
The state of the art right now for detecting oil under ice or under snow is dogs, which can do it from a mile away. We have technologies, but we just don't know how well they work. We're not able to train people to respond to oil spills on ice, yet traffic is continuing to increase in the Northwest Passage. There's a 40% reduction in vessel time to go through the Northwest Passage versus going through the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal, and a reduction of 1,300 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by going through the Northwest Passage, so it's a good way to go, but Transport Canada's own study, the Government of Canada's own study, said we are not prepared to respond to an oil spill there, even though there's all this increase in traffic.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Mr. Blackwood, would you like to elaborate on that too?
Vice-President, Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Yes.
Again, we are leveraging about 50% of total operational money, project money, activity, and training from the private sector. The private sector has been great in working on mapping the ocean, on acquiring the equipment to look at the deep ocean as we develop the offshore resources in Newfoundland and into the Arctic region. The big challenge we have is the physical infrastructure—the nation-building piece, if you will—the building that this will all operate out of.
We're not looking for operational funding. We're looking for the base so that we can create the building. We've built the breakwater marginal wharf and the first phase of this, a separate building that's fully tasked at the moment, all of that with the support from the Government of Canada on the conceptual piece and on the proof-of-concept piece. About $3 million of the first $15 million or $20 million we've spent has come through ACOA.
We've also spun off the small companies when commercial opportunities appeared. We created a company called Virtual Marine Technologies, which generates small-vessel simulators. GRi Simulations, one of the best in the world, does ROV simulations and is based in Mount Pearl with 20 employees. It was spun off. Rutter Technologies produces black boxes for ships, the equivalent of a black box in an airplane. That is a global company now, selling that product and others. We have been spinning off the companies.
We as an academic institution aren't going to be private, I guess, because of the mission and mandate, but the economic impact has been about 50% of our activities, and the ongoing operations will be generated by business partnerships.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you.
To clarify, your marginal wharf, as you called it, uses technology similar to what CAE would have in aerospace. Is that what you mean? Is it something like airplane simulators?
Vice-President, Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland
CAE is world renowned. Actually, the operating basis of our simulators comes from CAE. There's a partnership there. They're also working on helicopter simulators affiliated with this.
The big thing, and it would be great to see it, Minister Navdeep Bains did this by land and by sea in one of our fast rescue craft about two months ago. It is unique and it is complementary to what is happening elsewhere in Canada. We positioned it as such.
It gives us the opportunity to train people in the ocean and on the ocean, as opposed to simulating it elsewhere. It's complementary to what's happening with COVE and what's happening with Ocean Networks Canada in Victoria. We have collaborations with all of those.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
For those who are waiting for the open-mike session following this, I think everyone has registered. They should register if they haven't. We have five on the list. The open-mike session, for those who don't know, is an opportunity for people to come forward and give a two-minute presentation. They can get on the record in terms of where they believe the budget should go. There are no questions from members.
I say that so people are aware of it.
Go ahead, Mr. MacKinnon.
Liberal
Steven MacKinnon Liberal Gatineau, QC
Thank you to everyone for your excellent presentations.
It's good to see you again, Mr. MacDonald. I would like to start with you.
Clearly one of the great challenges in this country is delivering vital services to remote communities and affording them the opportunity to fully participate in the prosperity of the country. Your enterprise had some suggestions on that.
I know you touched on this in your presentation, but I want to give you an opportunity to elaborate on it. Have you quantified the extent of the economic opportunity from converting from current energy sources, whether it be in the north or in any sort of remote community in Canada, into renewable or more sustainable energy technology?