Evidence of meeting #60 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was connectivity.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
It might be.
In terms of wireless penetration, it places Canada in the ranks of other advanced economies like Germany, and far ahead of other European countries such as France or the United Kingdom. We are only now beginning to deploy LTE, so we're at the beginning stages. I think that the auction announced today is going to go a very long way to changing that.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Great. Thank you.
In your presentation you seem to suggest that our challenge isn't an issue of availability, accessibility, or infrastructure. It's a challenge of adoption.
Who isn't adopting?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
There's somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2.2 million small businesses in Canada, small and medium-sized enterprises. Approximately 70% of those companies don't currently have a website. That's a staggering number given today's technology and its availability, yet they are not taking advantage of it.
It's not only small companies; there are large companies that have not adopted it as well.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Since the industry committee's study on e-commerce, I'm sure there has been a dramatic change in that. Perhaps you could come back to us to demonstrate how our study has made an impact on that.
That's really staggering that 70% of SMEs still don't have a website.
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
That was from a 2011 public opinion poll.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
I think we really focused fairly widely on that. Hopefully we'll see that change.
I'm intrigued about your proposals for public-private partnerships in remote areas. I think that would be one of the answers to solving access in aboriginal communities, for example.
Are there any models or examples where a public-private partnership like this has existed in Canada or outside of the country that we could point to?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
There's one in Canada, and I'll always get the acronym mixed up so I'll look it up. It's NICSN. It's Northern Indigenous Community Satellite Network. That's a clear example of what has worked well.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Do you know where that community is, or do you have any additional information about that particular project?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
I can leave the committee with a copy of this report afterwards.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Please.
Do you know who is involved in that public-private partnership? Is it all in the report?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
It's all in the report.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Very good. I think that report would be very helpful.
Coming back to the SMEs or to sectors that are underconnected, if you will, are there other specific sectors that are underconnected? Are there specific segments of our economy?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
You could probably point to the health care sector. I know there are some changes being made in the health care sector now with digital health records, but there is no connectivity between provinces, as an example. Those digital health records need to move forward.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
This is the issue of eHealth Ontario—always a contentious word in Ontario, I might add.
Is the chamber dealing with this issue of promoting eHealth across the country?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Not promoting eHealth per se.
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Thank you, Mr. Braid.
Mr. Smith, is the report you are referring to in both official languages? That's fantastic. If you have enough copies you can distribute them directly.
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
I have only one French copy and one English copy.
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Certainly. It's also available online.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Oh, it is. That's fantastic. Then just send the link, and we'll make sure we distribute the link.
Now we go on to Mr. Regan for seven minutes.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Smith, thanks very much for being here today.
As you know, the current government and minister have been promising for years to develop a digital strategy, and it's clearly a promise that remains unkept. For instance, as you mentioned, there are numerous programs out there but no cohesive strategy about how they should work so that small and medium enterprises could know where to find stuff. You referred to that.
Michael Geist recently said, “If part of your economic strategy doesn’t include a digital economy strategy, then I’d say you don’t have an economic strategy”. I'd like to hear your views on the lost opportunities as a result of the lack of a digital strategy.
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
As I pointed out in the presentation, roughly $4.2 trillion worth of business is available on the Internet economy right now, and Canada is not capturing what I would say is its fair share. Because of this lack of useful connectivity, it's passing us by. There needs to be that relationship between how Canada manages its trade agreements and how Canadian businesses take advantage of those trade agreements.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
During the committee's study of intellectual property, as we heard then as we've heard today, that while Canadians are very much early adopters of technologies, and of e-commerce in this particular case, businesses haven't been. How would you compare this with other jurisdictions? Could you talk about that some more?
In your view, why is our performance so poor in this regard?
Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
We certainly lag behind Europe and the U.S. in business adoption of technologies and e-commerce in particular.
On your suggestion about how Canadian consumers are first adopters, there is another good news story there on how Canadian telecom companies have brought out a model that allows Canadian consumers to have the latest and greatest all the time—at a very reasonable cost when you consider the cost of the individual smart phones they are buying. Canadian consumers have a higher percentage of smart phones than any other country in the world.
Again, the real challenge is getting business to be more receptive to new technologies and to adopt an online strategy.
Does that answer your question?