Evidence of meeting #5 for Industry and Technology in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was industry.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Chief Operating Officer, Northern Director, CanArctic Inuit Networks Inc., As an Individual
Absolutely. We're not going to achieve our clean energy solutions, especially in rural and remote northern Canada, without it.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Richmond East—Steveston, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you again to our expert witnesses for joining us today. It's very insightful commentary we're hearing.
We've heard a lot about our capacity. I want to thank Mr. Iyer for shedding some light on what's happening in Alberta. My hometown, Richmond, British Columbia, is a powerhouse in aerospace and geospatial intelligence. In British Columbia, we have the shipbuilding that's taking place. Joint supply ships are coming online. We've seen oceanographic vessels.
Ms. Redfern, you talked a lot about the Arctic capacity and the technological advances of the ships or the technology that's available but not working in the arctic to some degree. I've had an opportunity to see the progress of the shipbuilding. With Boeing situated in my riding, we've seen the Poseidon aircraft and the capabilities that it has in the Arctic. There has been a lot of talk about Arctic capabilities and technology.
What are your thoughts on those procurement initiatives?
Chief Operating Officer, Northern Director, CanArctic Inuit Networks Inc., As an Individual
My cousin, Kirt Ejesiak, who owns Arctic UAV, has developed local capacity in the sector, but struggles to get either the government procurements or the partnerships that would actually ensure long-term, sustainable initiatives in the region. The challenge, in some cases, is being a northern or indigenous company competing with the really large companies in the south that sometimes do not want to partner or want to partner in a way that we are used as a token. Opportunities do exist, but it does take time to develop those business relationships and for those southern companies to understand that it's going to take time to build our capacity. We know that our people are interested and that they truly want to have those partnerships.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Richmond East—Steveston, BC
Thank you. Vancouver Island is another example. Many indigenous companies there are supplying our submarine manufacturing.
Maybe I'll shift to you, Mr. Iyer. You mentioned Alberta and capacity. Once again, I want to look at other areas, at niche markets that Canada could be positioned for, like microwave-based optical devices as they relate to the defence technology sector. Like I said, we have a tremendous tech ecosystem in British Columbia. I'm wondering if there's an opportunity there.
Professor, Director, Centre for Applied Research in Defence and Dual-use Technologies, University of Alberta, As an Individual
Absolutely. The whole point that I was trying to get across in my opening remarks is exactly what you're saying. It's completely aligned with what you're saying.
We have intense regional expertise in so many different areas. British Columbia, as you mentioned, is a hub for aerospace, but also for maritime and AI and quantum areas. We need to be able to leverage these regional strengths. The universities are at the centre of those conversations.
In response to the previous question, the universities are looking ahead at next-generation threats. They're looking at what the local economies and local industry can provide. They're propping up small businesses. Universities have infrastructure that these businesses can access. Universities have mechanisms to accelerate the activities of these small businesses and connect them to the CAF and to DRDC. It's essentially what we normally do on an everyday basis.
UBC is a perfect example in B.C. and UBC Okanagan is an excellent example. You mentioned microwave. They have strength in microwave, and we have strength in microwave. Toronto has strength in microwave. It's important for us to decide our roles in the broader defence technology innovation ecosystem and really push hard on our regional strengths.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Richmond East—Steveston, BC
Thank you for that.
Of course, once again I want to shamelessly plug BCIT. The British Columbia Institute of Technology in Richmond is also another great example of some of the training that takes place in aerospace.
Maybe I could—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ben Carr
Unfortunately, Mr. Bains, we're out of time. I let you get your plug in, but I can't let you plug twice.
Mr. Ste‑Marie, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Redfern, climate change is opening up sea routes in the north, but it's making a lot of changes for your people and your territory, such as on the ice, the permafrost and so on.
Would you like to briefly outline the issues, from your point of view, and those that may affect defence?
Chief Operating Officer, Northern Director, CanArctic Inuit Networks Inc., As an Individual
I can tell you that in the human-built environment, in our communities, what we're seeing is also happening out on the land. There is melting permafrost. It does mean that almost every new sort of infrastructure that is built could and should actually address that inherent risk. Otherwise.... I remember saying when I was mayor that we have billions of dollars of infrastructure that is at risk because it's not melting uniformly.
There is innovation that has been deployed and used. I can tell you that underneath the tarmac of the Iqaluit runway there are insulation panels. As well, for the big new buildings, mostly Government of Canada or Government of Nunavut buildings, poles are put into the ground near the buildings and actually try to moderate the temperature, to reduce it.
We were also missing opportunities because the City of Iqaluit buried its water and sewage pipes in what we thought was permafrost like concrete. The problem is that as the permafrost melted, they were breaking. If we had put sensors on those pipes, or what they call “flexible couplers” on the joints, which would have allowed the pipes to not break..... The challenge was actually getting any money from the different levels of government to help mitigate those risks.
As it relates to the military, all that critical infrastructure that needs to be built needs to be climate change-proofed, and we need to make sure it is. What we often saw was that the extra 10% in an infrastructure project to climate change-proof was well worth the investment.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ben Carr
Thank you, Mr. Ste‑Marie.
Colleagues, thank you very much.
I'd like to take the opportunity again to thank the witnesses for making themselves available to the committee. There were lots of interesting insights from a variety of different ranges of perspectives. Thank you very much.
Colleagues, I'm going to dismiss the witnesses but just before you go, members, we've got just one small order of business. The clerk had sent around numbers on the forecasted budget for our studies.
I have just a quick note. You may have looked at some of those numbers and raised an eyebrow as I did. It is important to note that these are estimates in the event that we were to have witnesses coming from all regions of the country with the estimated costs associated. To be clear, these are not confirmed witnesses. Should we feel we need a further conversation to get into the depths of details, we can create an opportunity for us to do so, but I first wanted to present the budget to the committee so that if there was unanimous consent we could move forward.
I'm seeing yes from the Bloc, yes from the Conservatives. I'm seeing no opposition from the Liberal side. I'll consider that adopted.
Again, it's not what we're going to spend, simply the ceiling we're creating for ourselves.
Colleagues, it was a very productive meeting. Thank you very much. We'll see you again soon.
The meeting is adjourned.
