I will preface this answer by saying that I am not an expert on Canada's industrial base capacity.
That said, I know there are pockets of world-renowned manufacturing in this country, but to reinforce my earlier testimony, I would advise more broadly that the government should be concerned with securing the inputs into the supply chains necessary for the 21st century. In so doing, you will secure the inputs into the supply chain for your defence industrial base.
When we talk about rare earth elements, if we are only looking for rare earth elements for defence, we are missing the point, because every single thing that we are going to need in the 21st century that is relevant is going to have an input of rare earth elements. That's because AI is not going to simply be on our phones; it is going to enter the world through robotics. If that robot is my personal support worker or if I weaponize it, that's a choice to be made, but it is the exact same manufacturing process and input that is necessary.
That also ties back to this idea of dual use. A spoon is a weapon, depending on how you use it.