Evidence of meeting #26 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was process.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Jenna Sudds Liberal Kanata, ON
Thank you, Secretary of State Fuhr, Mr. Guzman and Ms. Harty, for being with us today.
I have to say that here in Ottawa—I'm an Ottawa member of Parliament—there's been a tremendous amount of excitement in the industry and in constituents who work in the defence sector about the investments that our government is making and about the establishment of the Defence Investment Agency. It's been fascinating to watch.
What's been particularly fascinating to me is the dual-use technologies and the companies that are really stepping up and interested in working with our government. We referenced a few of the early wins, so to speak, or the early partnerships and contracts that the DIA has engaged in, including of course MDA Space, which has a presence in my riding, and Telesat here in Ottawa.
I'm wondering if you can speak to how the DIA will be able to engage and support particularly SMEs in this sector in order to get more Canadian content and to be able to grow the industrial base here in Canada.
Liberal
Stephen Fuhr Liberal Kelowna, BC
I got elected months ago, as you did, before the DIA was stood up. I spent a good part of my time just travelling around the country and talking to SMEs, OEMs and the business community at large. I used to run a small business at one point in this space, so I understand it and I speak the language. I heard a lot of different things.
From an SME perspective, an overwhelming message was that they just felt unheard and they weren't sure how to get involved. They don't have big lobbyers who know how Ottawa works. They either can't afford it or they just don't understand the system. They're more confident in landing a commercial opportunity than trying to beat down the door of a government procurement, just because it's too technically complicated, so they just give up. The fact that we were showing up and talking to them was a big first step, and listening to their position on this whole thing.
Money was one. They don't have access to certain financing tools that big companies have. There have been some things put in place since then, and there'll be more to come. The regional development agencies received money that goes right across the country. It's specifically there to help SMEs in this space. That's relatively new. BDC got $1 billion to help companies in this space. It has helped many entrepreneurs. I think they helped 103,000 entrepreneurs in 2024, so they know what they are doing. There are other financial mechanisms coming. Mr. Guzman may want to speak to that. However, money has been an issue, so access to capital is now there.
Communication is up. We're announcing the defence industrial strategy very soon. You'll probably hear about it in the next few days. This will map out how we can better bring SMEs into the ecospace.
The other thing we're doing through this engagement is putting a lot of pressure on our OEMs, original equipment manufacturers. I'll give you an example. Bombardier, De Havilland and MDA are OEMs. We're making it very clear to these OEMs that we want them to review their supply chains and make sure that, in their little ecospace of where they operate, they're looking for SMEs in order to bring them into their tent. It's in their best interests to do this, because when we start to compete for things, or we have an RFP out, these are points-based things and Canadian content will be an assessed factor. The more Canadian content you can provide, the more points you get.
There are all sorts of factors, but obviously we really care. It's not called the defence investment agency for no reason. We're investing in ourselves as we build out our Canadian Armed Forces, because they need capability. We're going to do that faster, but we're going to leverage this massive spend to stimulate our own economy. It's one of the three pillars of how we're going to do this: Build Canada Homes, the Major Projects Office, and the Defence Investment Agency.
That means we have to reach these SMEs. Some of the ways I just discussed were access to capital, access to us and the defence industrial strategy, which will be released very soon. That is part of the path to getting that done.
Conservative
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
I have just two questions, Mr. Chair.
I agree with the “buy Canadian” policy. Many organizations have buy local policies. However, what is happening Quebec?
As you know, the Bloc Québécois is only in Quebec. For six years, my oversight role has included monitoring the situation. I think we are more than relevant. We talk about what is happening in Canada all the time, but minimize the expertise and innovation we have in Quebec. I hope it's not on purpose, because Quebec expertise is being sidelined. I heard Bombardier mentioned, but we'll put that aside for now. There's something else.
Are you familiar with the organizations and have you visited them? I'm thinking in particular of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Investissement Québec. So far, what contacts and relationships do you have with any organizations that can help business start-ups in Quebec? It could even be GCapital.
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
Thank you.
Quebec has a thriving aviation business. It has a world leader in training and simulation in CAE. It has companies like Héroux-Devtek. It has Bombardier, obviously, as you note.
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
The process that we've started to implement in submarines is a good example of foreign suppliers clearly understanding that they need to get points by putting Canadian companies' products on the platform. That process—and I won't take credit for it, because that decision was made before I got here—has worked incredibly well. The German-Norwegian partnership and the Korean group have been criss-crossing Canada, including Quebec, to look for partners to improve the likelihood of their bids.
In terms of the financial players you mentioned, I'm very familiar with those organizations. I think that down the road, there is probably a place for us to make a contribution to the government. At the moment, we're not looking for financing to buy these platforms. Our colleagues in Finance worry about how we're going to finance the platforms. I think there's an opportunity in the longer run, which is probably beyond the scope of an early meeting on the BIA, for the government to play a role on the investing side with partners like that, some of which are sovereign wealth funds. The case would be a form of that.
I think there is a big opportunity internationally, as we have seen large countries show a willingness to invest in Canada.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Thank you.
I'm going to direct my questions to Mr. Guzman.
As the grandma of two amazing cadets, I would say that Canadians care, first and foremost, about whether their sons and daughters in uniform are going to get the right gear on time and at a good price for taxpayers. That's what defence procurement is supposed to do. Is that correct?
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
Yes, the primary purpose is to arm the CAF.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
You didn't come here from the military. You came from banking and investment, moving capital around and growing portfolios, not from moving tanks around.
I understand that in the nineties, you and the Prime Minister were colleagues at Goldman Sachs, an American company, and that you run in all the same banking and investment circles. Is that correct?
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
To refer to an earlier question, if I'm a close friend of the Prime Minister, I feel bad for the Prime Minister, because I don't see him very often.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Okay.
It seems, from earlier testimony in November, as my colleague mentioned, that your name may not have been on the Privy Council's suggested list of candidates for the job. Canadians are wondering. How did you get to be the government's pick to lead this agency?
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
They would know better than I would. Just as I said, I expressed an interest in serving Canada. I think Canada is having a moment, globally.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
That was with the Prime Minister. Is that correct?
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
I expressed an interest to the clerk after the Prime Minister sent me there, and I left it to them where they thought I could best make a contribution.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
On that note, was there any consideration of taking a lower salary, rather than ending up being one of the highest-paid Crown CEOs, with a salary possibly higher than the Prime Minister's?
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
I didn't negotiate the salary. I was presented with a proposal to join at a level—
February 10th, 2026 / 5:10 p.m.
Conservative
Chief Executive Officer, Defence Investment Agency
I was benchmarked, as I understand it, against a grid of Crown corporation CEOs.
