Industry Committee on May 2nd, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Mr. Regan, that's all the time there.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

—to just let the market go with some policy, this is exactly what—

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Minister Paradis.

We move on to our five-minute rounds now. I'm trying to hold it as tight as I can to give as many people as possible an opportunity to speak.

Mr. Carmichael, you have five minutes.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Welcome, ministers.

To my colleague, Mr. Braid, I won't dare enter into the Ottawa-Montreal debate, but I will say that I'm pretty sure this is the Leafs' year, so I'll leave it at that.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

I didn't expect that much hilarity. It was a rocky start last night, but we'll be back.

Minister Paradis, you spoke about the automotive innovation fund, a $250 million fund supporting innovation in the automotive sector, which is clearly very exciting.

Can you speak to the fund? How does it work, and how does it truly support the auto industry?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

You come from the area—it's 440,000 direct and indirect jobs.

In terms of volumes, in today’s world, economies like that of Mexico or the southern U.S. states are very competitive in terms of volume. However, if you look at high technology, innovation, and new products, that is where Canada can now be very competitive. We have a corridor of research centres of excellence in Ontario and in Michigan, something that is very attractive to investors.

A good example is when Toyota decided to locate their hybrid Lexus program in Cambridge, which is very good news, the automotive innovation fund was part of that solution.

This is where we can be champions. This is where we try to attract investments from the OEMs, the original equipment manufacturers, which is important because we have a large industry in Ontario in parts manufacturing. We have to keep these people, and the way to keep them is to make sure that we have some OEMs in the cluster.

We are very confident that we will have success in the future with the renewed fund of $250 million, because so far, the private sector has invested more than $1 billion since the first time we announced the first automotive innovation fund. We see that it generates economic activity, economic benefits, and it helps Canada’s plans to be on the leading edge of technology, which is, I think, the best Canadian brand we can demonstrate.

We don't hesitate to tell investors that we have skilled labour, very competent labour. We have probably the best in the world, and Canada is a great place to live. We can be competitive when we speak about high technology, innovation, and the value-added sector.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

I agree with you, totally.

I think that it's important for a province such as Ontario, which depends so heavily on the automotive sector, to create innovation that's going to surely replace those jobs with more skills, taking the base of that employment base and redefining it.

Have you received an enthusiastic response from the industry as a whole since the announcement of the renewal?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Yes, absolutely.

I can even mention that some projects are up in the air, so of course the department will be happy to sit down and fully assist them.

I think Ontario has a great track record. When we speak about the J.D. Power awards, Ontario is probably the province that has won the most in North America. That demonstrates that the ingenuity is definitely there. The fact that we continue with the AIF demonstrates that we are bang on in terms of good investments.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you.

Switching channels just a little bit over to the aerospace sector and the space sector, I wonder if you could inform us of the recent developments of the Canadian space sector. Could you update us on some of the developments in that area?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Very briefly.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Very briefly, we commissioned a report, and David Emerson tabled very interesting recommendations. We have to keep in mind that the last plan dates back to 2005, so there's a way that we can reshape this long-term space plan. That is why he said that we need to have a pan-governmental discussion and a multi-ministerial approach. This is a work-in-progress now, but it has a lot of potential.

In the meantime, we didn't hesitate to fund major projects like the RADARSAT Constellation mission and our participation in the ISS, and we remain a leader in these areas.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you minister.

Now on to Monsieur Lapointe pour cinq minutes.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Bernier, the people of Beauce are tremendous, but many researchers in the past five years have considered the Rivière-du-Loup region as the SME development model. I simply wanted to mention that.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

We also like competition.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

That is perfect.

In an interview that you gave to a radio station in Quebec City about a month ago, you expressed satisfaction at having made cuts to the Canadian Tourism Commission that were twice as high as those requested by the Minister of Finance. If I were represented in that way, I would be concerned

There is a consensus within the industry that Canada must do more international promotion because it is a profitable investment. We are falling behind at a time when the market is expanding and our competitors are investing two to three times more in that area than we are.

Did you try to convince your caucus colleagues not to apply the $13.5-million reduction, or on the contrary did you encourage them not to limit it to $7.5 million?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

The budget cuts targeting the Canadian Tourism Commission were made in cooperation with the commission itself.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

The commission itself says that it is underfunded, minister. You know that. We have met those people on several occasions.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Let me answer your question.

The commission itself submitted budget reduction plans to us. The government made the decision to reduce the budget by 20% based on the plans submitted. However, the tourism industry in Canada is doing very well despite that 20% reduction, as the figures cited earlier show.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Minister, we are falling behind internationally and you know it. We have fallen from 8^th to 15^th place.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Competition is much stronger at the international level, but the important thing for the Canadian Tourism Commission is to focus on the markets that are very profitable for Canada. That is part of its strategic plan. That is what it has done, and it has the means to do it.

You have a different opinion, but looking at—

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Minister, it is not that I have a different opinion; the industry people agree that the commission needs decent funding. That has nothing to do with François Lapointe.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

What the industry people say—and I know it since I meet with them regularly—is that they want to ensure that the government takes a global approach to tourism, and certainly—

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

You are proud of your $13-million budget cuts?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

As a member of the government, absolutely.