Finance Committee on May 21st, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Chair, do I have any additional time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

No, you were over time.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thanks again.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We have enough time for five members to take five minutes each. We'll start with Mr. Ste-Marie, and then go to Ms. Jansen, Mr. Fragiskatos, Mr. Barrett and Ms. Dzerowicz.

Gabriel.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Casey, thank you for describing the ecosystem in your field so well.

The field has a lot of small businesses, some of them start-ups. Is there anything the government can do to take them to another level, so that when they make a discovery or have an innovative idea, they don't sell it to a big player?

Would it be worthwhile to allow them to continue to grow and become stronger?

[Andrew Casey]

It is definitely a key objective that we have to strive for.

We have to create anchor companies. We've been very good as a country at creating a lot of early-stage companies, and as you indicated in your question, many of them are sold off. They go to the large multinational companies.

Part of that is an absolute business strategy that is a reality. You have a small product, one single drug. You recognize that you want to sell it to the world. You need the infrastructure that the large companies provide. You're never going to become a big pharma company overnight, so you will pursue that path.

For others that have platform-like technologies or manufacturing capacity, like Medicago, AbCellera or Repare, they are more likely to be able to stay here in Canada and grow. If we want to get to that, we have to figure out where the gaps are. Some of that is investment capital. It's the talent piece, but there are also some other tax incentives. There are things like patent boxes, which are being used in other jurisdictions, that allow companies to earn money from their innovation but not be taxed at a high rate until they become a commercially profitable company.

Incentives such as that, tax measures such as that, would be really important to keeping some of those companies here.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you.

Is there anything else you would like to add in support of the biotechnology industry?

[Andrew Casey]

As I indicated, in the budget, there is $2.5 billion—almost $3 billion—in investments flowing to the sector. I think the dedicated life sciences fund is really important. It's not a large amount of money. I think we need to make that happen, make it work, see the investments flow and then grow that. It should be bigger.

I think that's probably the biggest gap right now: venture capital. There is $60 billion in venture capital flowing to the biotech sector around the world. We need to actually access as much of that as possible to stay competitive, so anything we can do to get that I think would be really important.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

The message has been heard, and it is very clear. We hope that this will be reflected in future budgets and in the government's measures.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chair, I have no more questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, Gabriel.

I will just emphasize one point that Mr. Casey made and which I think is critical, because we've run into it several times in my office, and it is that in bringing in skilled workers from outside Canada not enough attention is being paid to the partner of the person who is coming in. We look at that individual's skills and we have been successful in some cases and not in others. You do need to find an opportunity for the spouse or the family so that the individual is comfortable with coming here and working. I think that was the point you really made, Mr. Casey.

[Andrew Casey]

That's exactly right, and particularly in our space, where you're bringing in a chief scientific officer. They are always married to somebody equally skilled, so finding jobs for those people would be absolutely critical. I think it would obviously benefit the economy more broadly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you.

We will turn to Ms. Jansen.

You have five minutes, Tamara, and then Mr. Fragiskatos is after that.

Go ahead, Ms. Jansen.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Thank you very much.

My questions will be for Mr. Fox.

I am an MP from British Columbia and am very close to the ocean here, so fisheries are a really important issue for me as well. I have questions for you.

The federal government's failure to effectively inventory small craft harbours and their state of repair or disrepair in your area there has resulted in the reactive, ad hoc and emergency approach to maintenance, rather than a proactive and planned approach to sustaining harbours. What wharves and harbours are in the greatest need on the island?

[Jamie Fox]

That's a good question.

I would have to say that it's different. If you look at actual structural sounding, I would say that Rustico would be at the top of the list. If you're talking dredging and the need for a new harbour or a long-term solution, you're talking Malpeque. You also can go down to North Lake at the far end of the island and look at Georgetown in North Lake. There are two wharves down there that are very aging infrastructure and need to be enhanced.

Minister MacAulay and I have talked about Georgetown before. He supports this project. I had a good meeting with Lawrence about two weeks ago. What we need to do is take an in-depth capacity look at our wharves and harbours going forward and get a real sense of where they actually fall in the condition of priorities.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Okay.

There seems to be a sense at the wharves that it takes someone being hurt to force the government's hand and get them moving on long-overdue repairs. Would you agree?

[Jamie Fox]

I would agree. I hate to say that, but I would agree.

My background is in law enforcement and emergency services for 25 years, and I have dealt with that first-hand. Sometimes measures aren't put in place or infrastructure isn't corrected until somebody has come into harm's way.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Fishers out of Malpeque harbour are at an almost constant risk of running to ground and swamping. I think Mr. Easter will agree that the government has been kicking the can down the road on a solution to this issue. What permanent solution do you see for Malpeque?

[Jamie Fox]

It is something that has been kicked down the road for roughly 20 years. Wayne has been a good advocate for this. I think we need to look at either repositioning the channel out through the dunes, working with the department, the environment groups, and actually putting a straight entrance out while being sensitive to the actual environment there, or we need to establish a brand new wharf off Cabot Park.

I can tell you that the province has had those conversations with DFO. We are prepared to make a long-term commitment as per infrastructure, road and the land off Cabot Beach Provincial Park going forward, but we need a solution now. When you look at the amount of money we've spent in dredging over the last 20 years, we're averaging roughly $1 million to $1.5 million a year, and we're doing that consistently every year.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

With two examples on opposite sides of the island—Victoria, which was dredged last summer, and Malpeque, which needs to be dredged every year—how does the island's geological makeup with the sandstone base make the need for a proactive approach to dredging even greater?

[Jamie Fox]

Victoria is a high priority. I'm very familiar with that as it's in my riding. It was dredged last year. You have to look at the island and the way the sand shifts. On the north side of Malpeque, of course, it's more volatile than on the south side. We need to have a geographical approach and look at how sand actually moves across the island. One thing I've suggested is to do a sand study on how sand is shifting.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Would you say that the federal government has recognized the recommendation in the February 2019 report titled “Ensuring the Sustainability of the Small Craft Harbours Program”?

[Jamie Fox]

I would say that regionally they have, but not in Ottawa. The region realizes how that's an important study, I believe, but I don't think it's made its way up to Ottawa to the people that should be hearing it.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Thank you.

Do I have any time left, Mr. Easter?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

You have a minute.

Part of the problem in Ottawa at 200 Kent Street is that there are not a lot of fish in the Rideau Canal.

Go ahead, Tamara.