Government Operations Committee on June 5th, 2020

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Colleagues, I will call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting 17 of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

I have three quick points. Number one is a reminder that next Tuesday's meeting will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. That's Tuesday, June 9.

Second, to all of the witnesses who may be asked questions or who may participate during the Q and A, if you start a question or a statement in one official language, I would ask that you continue in that official language, rather than alternating between English and French. That will be of great assistance to our technicians, because they won't have to switch between channels.

Lastly, colleagues, Mr. Davies has presented and delivered to all of you, I believe, his opening statement in both official languages. However, in the interest of time, if we wish and if there is agreement, we can go directly to questions if I have consent for the following motion: That the speaking notes presented by Mr. Davies be taken as read and appended to the evidence of today's meeting.

Do I have consent from all of our committee members for that motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

[See appendix—Remarks by Mitch Davies]

In that case, we will go directly into questions. The first round will be six minutes, followed by a five-minute round, followed by a two-and-a-half-minute round.

Mr. McCauley, you are our first speaker, for six minutes. The floor is yours.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, witnesses.

Concerning the companies that have received taxpayers' money for retooling, when are they going to start delivering the first round of domestic supply of PPE?

[Mitch Davies, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Sector, Department of Industry]

In the case of contracts signed with domestic manufacturers, a number of these are already under way. If there was interest in further information on the state of deliveries and payments—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Maybe you could provide it to the committee, then.

[Mitch Davies]

Yes.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

I have the same question on companies that are retooling, such as GM, which is receiving taxpayers' money for retooling. When are they going to start, and what is the amount of supply? Can you provide that?

Do you have any idea about general delivery dates or production dates: one week, one year?

[Mitch Davies]

In general, in response to the question, I would indicate that delivery of PPE in many cases is already well under way. It would depend on the product and the—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

When you say delivery is well under way, do you mean that it's reaching the provinces? Maybe you could provide that information to us at a later date.

How much taxpayers' money, in total, is going to be spent building domestic capacity for PPE, whether for retooling or new builds?

[Mitch Davies]

Mr. Chair, based on the best available information, close to 700 manufacturers in Canada will, in some way over the course of this, turn to supply for Canadian needs—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Sorry, let me rephrase the question. I'm not asking about those that are going to receive contracts, but how many are going to receive non-repayable loans or grants from the government and from taxpayers? How much is that in dollars?

[Mitch Davies]

Among the firms that I was referencing, the 700 in total, a small portion would be expected to receive grants or other incentives beyond the contracts themselves, which obviously is the most important matter—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Maybe you could get back to the committee with the total.

How much will Medicom receive?

[Mitch Davies]

Medicom, under a letter of intent, will be providing supply to the—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

I know what they're supplying, but will they be receiving grants, non-repayable loans, etc. from the taxpayers?

[Mitch Davies]

We are, at this time, in discussions with Medicom in terms of support for its scale-up of Canadian operations. The information that the member has requested would be available at a subsequent point, and we'd be pleased at that point to be able to confirm that.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

How was Medicom identified as a PPE supplier? We understand they've received a sole-source contract. PSPC said that industry approached them. How were they identified?

[Mitch Davies]

Dating back to the onset of the crisis and very significant activities in the early days to mobilize, we in ISED reached out to firms that had an interest to scale up Canadian production. Medicom is a Canadian-headquartered company that produces PPE, and they showed willingness to move forward on a plan that would meet Canada's time frame.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Okay. On what date were they approached or contacted?

[Mitch Davies]

I would want to check our records to provide the precise date, but it would have been in late March. I would have to check our records to make sure that I provide the accurate answer to the member's question.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Okay. Did any large-scale North American PPE suppliers contact Industry Canada about this?

[Mitch Davies]

We have had discussions and continue, in fact, to have discussions with a number of large-scale PPE suppliers, those that provide the type of PPE that, for example, Medicom would. Those discussions are also ongoing, given that there's an interest in the economy broadly for a restart of the economy to increase the supply of PPE in Canada beyond the—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Let me ask you this. When we had PSPC with us, the deputy minister, Mr. Matthews, stated that no other North American-based company had actually approached PSPC or the government offering to make PPE in Canada or supply it. Is that correct? You're saying that you were approached.

[Mitch Davies]

Mr. Chair, the answer to the member's question would depend on the time frames and the context for the exchange that—