I do think it is promising. I think it will become more promising the closer we get to actually being able to meaningfully extract them in larger quantities and to process them usefully.
In the context of our discussions with NATO and that additional 1.5% that would go beyond the 3.5% target on core defence spending to an overall target of 5%, I think that, as best as I can tell, that 1.5% remains still fairly vaguely defined. Perhaps there's an ability for Canada, as part of our participation in the alliance, to help shape what that means.
My best guess, though, would be that we would only be able to count some of the investments, which, to my mind, we should be making for our own national reasons. We have products that are valuable globally, and we should exploit them as much as we can for our own national benefit—economic, social and otherwise. However, it's only to the extent that this exploitation can help tangibly connect with a defence supply chain and help produce defence capability that we can consider them as part of that 1.5% to take us to that 5% overall.
