Industry Committee on Nov. 30th, 2017

[Sara Brown]

Yes, absolutely. You have that understanding, but certainly one of our great challenges here is not just speed but actual bandwidth, so even if you're in a community that has better speed that's served by fibre, it's the bandwidth that ends up bringing you to a grinding halt.

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Am I done?

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

You're done.

I'm going to jump in again.

That's a common theme we keep hearing, si if you have any maps that represent speed, bandwidth, or connectivity in your communities, could you please forward them to the clerk? That would be helpful. Thank you.

Mr. Stewart, you have the final two minutes.

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Thank you very much.

It's been an interesting conversation. Thanks for your advocacy. That's really important.

Since we are getting near the end now, and I just have two minutes, I am wondering if there is anything you would like to add that perhaps you haven't been able to say over this course of interviews.

[Ray Orb]

I'll make a quick comment and I'll ask Sara to make a comment as well.

I think we need to do a lot more work. I know Mr. Bossio has been very active on this file. We have been working through Rural Forum with the Liberal rural caucus on this issue, and we need to talk not only to the Liberal government but to the Conservative and NDP members of Parliament to get better feedback on what's happening in their ridings across Canada.

We need to work through FCM to do a lot more on this file. We see these Canadian programs, such as Connect to Innovate. The programs have been very effective, but we need to do more work. It's a step in the right direction, as I think we stated before, so we're pleased with it.

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Thank you.

[Ray Orb]

Perhaps Sara could comment.

[Sara Brown]

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.

I really can't stress enough that the gaps we see in the north are limiting our ability to grow and participate in the global economy and to move our challenges ahead with respect to education, health, and all those sorts of things. It's critically important to moving forward as territories.

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

That will wrap it up for today.

Thank you very much to our witnesses for appearing today. There's been lots of good information.

Again, I'm going to reiterate that whatever you can submit to us, be it the maps or any pilot projects, the sooner the better would be extremely helpful.

[Ray Orb]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

We're going to break for a very quick minute while we get the minister in. We're running on a short clock, so we're going to suspend.

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

It was great to see you, Ray and Sara. Take care.

[Ray Orb]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

I want to inform the committee that we are short on time and we need to leave a bit of time towards the end to adopt our motion, or, rather, the supplementary—

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

My motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

No, not yours. Yours has already passed—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

I will be cutting down some of the time as we go through, just so everybody has an opportunity to speak.

Having said that, we welcome today the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, with her officials David McGovern and Nipun Vats.

We are glad to have you here today and we look forward to your presentation. You have up to 10 minutes.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Minister of Science]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, everyone.

I am happy to be here with you today.

Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to be here on the occasion of the tabling of the supplementary estimates (B) for 2017-18.

As you will remember, I last appeared before this committee in May. I am honoured today to provide you with an update on what I have been doing since then to champion science in this country. I will preface my remarks by emphasizing that all the actions I have taken have been in pursuit of our government's long-term vision for the future of science in Canada.

I recently shared that vision at the Canadian Science Policy Conference. It can be summed up in three points: we want to strengthen research, strengthen evidence-based decision-making, and strengthen our culture of curiosity.

At the heart of our vision are the people who power science, the researchers, lab technicians, academic staff, and students, whose collective contributions improve Canada's science community every day. Ours is a vision that sees Canadian science and our many outstanding scientists re-energized in a forward-looking and bold global pursuit of new knowledge.

Right now, Canada is seen around the world as a progressive country empowering its scientists to make breakthroughs that could change the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. When I was at the G7 in Italy last month, I was proud to hear that Canada is viewed as a beacon for science around the world.

This is the right time to follow through on this momentum, and I am happy to tell you that the government is working hard on this.

For example, I recently fulfilled my top mandate commitment by joining the Prime Minister in naming Dr. Mona Nemer as Canada's new chief science adviser. Dr. Nemer is a highly accomplished medical researcher, a former university executive, and an award-winning scholar who is recognized internationally for her contributions to academia. Her job is to provide our government with independent, non-partisan scientific advice. Dr. Nemer will gather the most cutting-edge science and present her advice to me, the Prime Minister, and cabinet.

It is then my job as Minister of Science to incorporate her findings at the cabinet table so that we can make decisions about the things Canadians care about most: their health and safety, the security of their families and communities, their jobs and prosperity, the environment, climate, and the economy.

Prime Minister Trudeau announced Dr. Nemer's appointment the same day that the first-ever Prime Minister's science fair was held here in Ottawa. Why? Our government wanted to connect the big news of the day with the big things that young Canadians are doing to advance science. We want young people to know that their scientific achievements are recognized and have a home on Parliament Hill. This is one of many steps we have taken to encourage young people to be curious and to pursue their ambitions.

We also launched the second phase of our highly successful #ChooseScience campaign this fall. So far, the ads have aired over 2.2 million times and have reached over 520,000 Canadians, with 108,000 Canadians reacting to, commenting on, and sharing the social media ads. It also attracted more than 25,000 visits to our #ChooseScience web page, and more than 55,000 schools now have our campaign posters in their halls.

I'm a strong supporter of programs like these that embolden young people to choose science.

That is the culture of curiosity I was telling you about.

Our challenge today continues to be shaping that culture so it welcomes all people. That's why I've made it my personal mission to right the gender equity and diversity scales in academia. I believe we must improve access to opportunities so that everyone has a shot at contributing to the future of our country. That's why I instituted new equity requirements in the Canada excellence research chairs competition, one of the most prestigious research programs in Canada. We also strengthened our efforts to address the under-representation of four designated groups in the Canada research chairs program: women, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities.

I am so proud to be able to say to you today that my message seems to be getting through. We have a record-setting number of women nominated for both the Canada research chairs and the Canada 150 research chairs competition. Specifically, in this latest round of Canada research chairs nominations, 42% are women, the highest it has ever been. Budget 2017 put forward $117 million for the Canada 150 research chairs, a one-time fund that allows universities to recruit internationally based scholars, including Canadian expat researchers who wish to return home.

The preliminary numbers are in, and they show that the applicants are 62% women and 39% expat Canadians who see the future of their research careers here in Canada. I believe these results wouldn't have come about if it were not for the bold action I have taken to right the gender equity and diversity scales in academia.

Perhaps as further evidence of our international reputation for modern, liberalized science policy, Montreal was chosen this year as the first-ever Canadian host of the international Gender Summit. Earlier this month, Montreal welcomed more than 600 advocates of gender equality from science, innovation, and development around the world. It was a great honour to participate in such a historic event, and I'm awed, humbled, and inspired by the many stories that were shared about women who are making a difference in the sciences around the world.

As you know, as part of my mandate to champion science in this country, I also commissioned a review of federal funding for science, the first of its kind in more than 40 years.

I thank the distinguished members of the committee for their work.

The panel gave me more than 200 pages and 35 recommendations to consider. I agree with the majority of the recommendations and have already taken action to implement many of them. These include capping the renewals of Tier 1 Canada research chairs and announcing the creation of the Canada research coordinating committee.

I also launched a network of centres of excellence competition this summer that puts a premium on multidisciplinary, multinational, and bold research initiatives.

I expressed my support for replacing the Science, Technology and Innovation Council with a more nimble, public-facing advisory body. In the coming months I will move forward with a new, more open and transparent science and innovation council so that government can benefit from independent experts working in these fields.

There will be more action to come on the implementation of the panel's recommendations, and I look forward to your support of my efforts.

As well as my work in Ottawa, I have the privilege of visiting Canadian campuses and communities from coast to coast to coast. Meeting with researchers on the ground is such an important way for me to get a sense of the state of play in science at the moment.

Quite recently, I had the opportunity of visiting the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms.

MILA, as it is called, is world renowned for breakthroughs in machine learning. It has more than 150 researchers in deep learning, the largest academic concentration in this field in the world.

To support Canada's world-class work in artificial intelligence, this year's budget invests $125 million to create a pan-Canadian artificial intelligence strategy.

I want to underscore the important lesson this investment offers. Canada's current strength in artificial intelligence is a direct result of investments and investigator-led fundamental research made some 30 years ago.

At the time, many thought machine learning was the stuff of science fiction. That skepticism did not deter scientists like Geoffrey Hinton from applying for funding to pursue their interests in artificial intelligence. That we are now realizing the returns of those early investments shows the wisdom of investing in discovery research across the board.

We know that when it comes to science in this country, a culture change will not happen overnight. Still, look how far we've come in the last six months and in the last two years.

With that, I look forward to answering the committee's questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Thank you very much.

We're going to jump right into questions.

Go ahead, Mr. Sheehan.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Thank you very much, and Minister, thank you for the presentation.

You're talking about some of the changes that are happening. In my own home, my daughter, who is 16, has just switched from humanities to science and math. My daughter is also a Métis. My question is going to be specific because I'm also chair of the northern Ontario caucus, and I have a number of first nations in my riding and across the north.

What can we do to work with Canada's indigenous people to elevate science in this great country? In my riding, in Garden River, areas that are now campgrounds were once places where native peoples went and got traditional medicines and recognized a whole bunch of things, all before the western world arrived. What can we do to elevate that?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I'll tell you what we've been doing and what more we can be doing. We have this #ChooseScience campaign. The reason we have it is that we have to build the pipeline.

All children are born curious. They want to discover. They want to explore. They pull apart the nearest pen and they'll dismantle the microphone or whatever's nearby. It is our job to foster that natural curiosity through elementary school, high school, and beyond.

We want to attract our young people to the STEM careers—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and I'll add art and design, but it's not enough to attract them; we want to retain them. I'm very much focused on building that pipeline. I make it part of my mandate, when I travel to meet with young people, to hear their experiences and to hopefully encourage them to think about the STEM disciplines.

This past weekend, I was at the University of Toronto Scarborough, back where I used to teach, and I met with 100 girls in grade 9. They are interested in STEM. Every one of those students, when they asked questions, asked about the challenges of being a woman in science. These are kids who want to go into STEM fields.

This summer I had the privilege of being in the Arctic, where I had done research. I was able to meet with indigenous students, and I think there's a lot of work we can be doing there. I also think Canada needs to listen to indigenous peoples—first nations, Métis, Inuit. You can't live on the land for thousands of years if you cannot read the sky, the land, and the water. We have much to learn from indigenous peoples when it comes to the environment, when it comes to thinking about our relationship with the world. We have to recognize who owns that knowledge, and I think there's a lot of work to be done in bringing traditional knowledge and western science together and sharing information both ways.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

We recently did an IP study. We heard of a lot of the research that's going on in universities, which is great.

In the Sault, we have a university. We have Sault College and the Heritage Discovery Centre. What can the ministry do to promote more research, more science, more of that kind of work at our colleges and our polytechnical institutes?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I'm very clear. All our post-secondary institutions have a role within the post-secondary ecosystem. That means our universities, our colleges, and our polytechnics. We have to fund all of them.

The colleges do tremendous work. The applied research that's done.... I have Humber College in my community. I'm so proud to be able to serve that college. I'm told from the college sector that I have visited the most technology access centres, the TAC programs, of any science minister ever.

This summer we were at Niagara College. At lunch we sat down with members of the community. They explained how the college helps them with producing their food and wine products, overcoming challenges they have, and how the college is a source of regional economic development.

Lunch was with the food and wine industry. Later in the day we met with advanced manufacturing, and they gave us the same message. They come to the college with a challenge; the college can turn it around in three or four months and really help their business.

We have the college and community innovation program and our technology access centres, and I hope you all take the time to visit them.