Good morning. I will be concentrating my remarks on RADARSAT, the Earth observation satellite developed by MDA and the Canadian Space Agency. With your permission, I would like to make my presentation in French. I will thus be more comfortable in defending this jewel of Canadian Earth observation technology.
I will deal mainly with five concerns relating to the sale and the loss of control over the RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 satellites.
The first concern relates to the environment monitoring capability provided by RADARSAT. This satellite is unique and is extremely effective for the monitoring of flooding, ice areas and oil slicks. Who will now decide on the purchase of these images? Who will decide on the control of the satellite in situations of natural disaster or conflict? Imagine a scenario — not that it is something I would hope for —: two simultaneous floods, one in the United States and one here. Who will decide on intervention priorities? That is a source of concern. The loss of control over the satellite could be harmful to environment monitoring. That is one of the major aspects.
Secondly, I would like to underscore Canada's participation in the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters. In 2001, Canada was a pioneer when it initiated, along with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Space Agency (CNES) the creation of this Charter, the signatories of which committed to making available throughout the world means of Earth observation for follow-up and assistance in the management of natural disasters. If we lose the satellite, what will Canada have to offer under this Charter for which Canada was a pioneer and to which RADARSAT presently makes an extremely significant contribution through these images and its enhanced observation capability?
The third issue pertains to the applications and innovations flowing from the use of these images. At present, MDA and a whole host of companies throughout Canada have developed expertise and are carrying out research and development in the use and exploitation of these images. This technology is extremely advanced, but it has not yet been completely assimilated. Much remains to be done to improve the interpretation and analysis of these images. RADARSAT-2, in particular, has a polarimetrical capability that significantly augments the information included, but there is still much research to be done in this area.
What will these industries become if they no longer have access to these images as they did previously? The Canadian Space Agency had an entire promotion and distribution program for these images in view of developing this expertise within Canadian SMEs. These services companies transformed the raw material into a product that could be used by the Coast Guard, the Canadian Ice Service, the forestry industry, for logging monitoring, agriculture monitoring, etc. There are all kinds of applications for which radar technology is in the process of being developed. I am somewhat concerned about their chances of survival. What are the risks if we lose control over these images?
The other important issue is that of the international projects in which Canada is involved. These projects are funded by the Canadian Space Agency or by other agencies such as CIDA or IDRC. The projects that the university played a role in were research and development projects, including demonstration pilot projects. We had access to radar images in view of promoting this technology. I am worried by Canada's loss of independence with regard to the running of these pilot projects. There was, for example, the flooding project, MekongFrom Space, in which radar images were used and were of precious help.
In such situations, will Canadian interests not be in conflict with foreign interests?
My final point is the one that concerns us most directly. I am talking here about this fear that we have with regard to research. At the present time, there are programs that are developed by the Canadian Space Agency in order for these images to be provided to universities and research centres, the purpose being to increase the analysis potential for this data. Will we still have access to this data? Will we continue to develop this expertise which, in the end, might wind up serving interests other than Canadian interests?
I wish to thank you for having allowed me to speak to you.