Industry Committee on June 1st, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Good morning, everyone. I now call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting number 20 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Pursuant to the order of reference of Saturday, April 11, the committee is meeting for the purpose of receiving evidence concerning matters related to the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's meeting is taking place by video conference and the proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.

I would like to remind you, members and witnesses, before speaking to please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, please unmute your microphone and then return to mute when you have finished speaking. When you are speaking, I'd ask that you do so slowly and clearly so that the translators can do their work. As is my normal practice, I will wave the yellow card when you have 30 seconds remaining in your intervention. When you see the red card that means you have run out of time.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses. With us today we have Dr. Arthur McDonald, professor emeritus, Gordon and Patricia Gray chair in particle astrophysics, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate 2015, Queen's University.

From Bidali we have Mr. Eric Kryski, chief executive officer and co-founder.

From Dynamite Network, we have Mr. Jeff Musson, president and chief executive officer.

From StarFish Medical, we have Mr. Scott Phillips, chief executive officer, and John Walmsley, executive vice-president, strategic relationships.

From Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, we have Mr. Joe McBrearty, president and chief executive officer.

From SNOLAB, we have Mr. Nigel Smith, executive director, and from TRIUMF, we have Mr. Jonathan Bagger, director.

The first five witnesses will be giving testimony, and SNOLAB and TRIUMF are here to provide support in responding to questions. Each witness will present for seven minutes followed by the rounds of questions. We will begin with Dr. Arthur McDonald.

You have the floor for seven minutes.

[Dr. Arthur McDonald, Gordon and Patricia Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics, Professor Emeritus, Nobel Physics Laureate 2015, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen's University, As an Individual]

Thank you very much for this opportunity to testify.

My story today is about a team of talented Canadian scientists and engineers working with international collaborators and Canadian industry who were inspired by the opportunity to apply their skills to make a difference in the COVID-19 pandemic.

When confronted by a daunting world situation, we all ask ourselves, “What can I possibly do to help?” I personally was presented with just such an opportunity back in March when I was contacted by my colleague, Professor Cristiano Galbiati in Milan, Italy, in the midst of the worst region for COVID-19 at the time, who said, “I think that we can use the skills that we have developed for our experimental search for dark matter particles to build ventilators and save lives.”

It was apparent to me that our skills in gas handling for the large liquid argon baths used in our underground experiments at SNOLAB and, in the future, in Italy, could be directed in this way if we could build a diverse and dedicated team to work on the project. I immediately called the directors of Canadian national labs, who are with us today: TRIUMF in Vancouver, where researchers were already collaborating on our dark matter research; Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, where I knew that there were very skilled engineers working on nuclear reactors and their safety systems; SNOLAB, our world leading underground laboratory in Sudbury; and the McDonald Institute, a Canada First Research Excellence Fund project with skilled scientists at universities across the country. I received an immediate positive response from the lab directors and an equally positive response from the scientists and engineers, who proceeded to work night and day, seven days a week, to create a straightforward, easy-to-construct and relatively inexpensive ventilator.

Our international team, led by Professor Galbiati, including INFN in Italy and Fermilab in the United States, created a working model on the benchtop in about 10 days and took it to a hospital in Monza for testing on a human breathing simulator. Our simplified ventilator requires fewer than 40 parts, as compared to traditional ventilators that can require over 1,000 parts. We received immediate and very valuable feedback from doctors in Italy, Canada and the United States on how to improve the design and meet the requirements for safety necessary for patient use.

We immediately began working with an Italian manufacturer, Elemaster, on industrializing the design, and with a Canadian partner company, Vexos, in Markham, and their sub-contractor, JMP Solutions in London, Ontario, to optimize the manufacturability and reliability of the device.

The ventilator concept is simple. You wish to deliver oxygen-enriched air to a patient in a careful, regulated way. This is done by an inhalation valve and an exhalation valve that are opened and closed sequentially with precise control of the pressure and timing of the cycle. Our device accomplishes this with the valves controlled by readily available, programmable microcomputers and interactive display units, which are very familiar to our scientists and engineers for their normal work.

Of course, in practice, ventilator design becomes more complicated. You must make the device safe in all conceivable situations, so many safety valves and other auxiliary equipment must be added. The programming must make sure to meet all the patient's needs and be easily displayed and controlled by doctors and respiratory technicians. In this, we were greatly helped by the skills of our electronics and programming specialists at TRIUMF and our mechanical engineers and safety experts at Chalk River working with our international team—from home, in most cases.

Of course, our team is very used to collaborating via the web. You may remember that the World Wide Web was actually invented by a particle physicist working at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, to enable effective communication and collaboration with his colleagues. We have used the Internet daily in our collaborations for many years.

So our team produced a ventilator, which we called the Mechanical Ventilator Milano, MVM, tested it extensively, and received United States Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization in about six weeks—quite a remarkable achievement.

Our Canadian model, as manufactured by Vexos and JMP, must receive Health Canada authorization before deployment here to ensure that any small part differences from the Italian base model due to supply chain availability will have no significant adverse effects. We're confident that we will meet the Health Canada requirements, because many of these requirements are very similar to those that passed testing for the U.S. FDA authorization.

From the beginning, we as scientists have taken an open licence approach to our work, publishing scientific papers on the basic design and testing as the design progresses. Our open presentations are similar to what one would present for a patent application, but we will not seek a patent. Rather, we're making the information available under an open licence for maximum international value in our current crisis situation. Our Canadian and international companies have put a lot of effort into translating this design into an industrialized product and obtaining medical authorization, and that would also be necessary for companies picking up this design in any other country.

We have benefited greatly by strong assistance from ISED and Health Canada. Following their initial review of our project, they issued a letter of intent to Vexos that inspired them to devote resources to the development work, which has now culminated in a signed contract with the federal government for 10,000 of these ventilators. The ventilators will be supplied starting at the end of June, ramping up to a rate of over 800 a week shortly thereafter.

We are also very grateful for donations from philanthropists, including the Donald R. Sobey Foundation, the Lazaridis Family Foundation, Josh Felker and a number of other donors who have made it possible for us to meet a number of research needs during this work and to achieve our design within a short time window.

We're very proud of the way that Canadian scientists, engineers, national labs and manufacturers have come together so effectively for this humanitarian effort. I'm continually amazed at the skill and dedication of members of our team in their work on our project. It's clear that Canada’s continued investment in national laboratories and universities has created tremendous expertise in science, engineering and leading-edge manufacturing. Our strengths in all—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Dr. McDonald, my apologies—

[Dr. Arthur McDonald]

I have one more sentence.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Okay. Go ahead.

[Dr. Arthur McDonald]

Our strengths in all these areas make it possible for us to be an innovative nation and to provide rapid assistance in areas of need. I hope that our efforts will save lives and that we can contribute to our country’s positive response to this daunting world challenge.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much.

Our next presenter is Mr. Kryski from Bidali.

You have the floor for seven minutes.

[Eric Kryski, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Bidali]

Thank you very much.

Distinguished members of the House, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I'm the CEO and co-founder of Bidali, a financial technology start-up based in Calgary, Alberta, that is using blockchain technology to reduce fraud and increase efficiency in payments. We are backed by some of Canada's most prominent angel investors. We recently released a white paper that evaluates how blockchain technology could save costs, reduce fraud and provide the government with better visibility into the effectiveness of stimulus efforts.

In January I had the opportunity to speak about the future of money during the World Economic Forum week in Davos, Switzerland. Our company also participated in this year's blockchain innovation stream provided by Canada's top-tier accelerator Creative Destruction Lab in Toronto. We are also advising various governments on their digital currency initiatives.

First, I would like to thank all government officials and employees for their recent efforts in response to this pandemic. The pace at which programs and policies have changed has been astounding—truly a team Canada effort. In particular, I would like to thank ministers Joly, Ng and Bains for their consultations with small businesses and technology companies. These have been critical to implementing the measures that, thus far, have prevented the collapse of the technology sector, which is critical to Canada's recovery...as well as Madam Rempel Garner's past efforts in developing the precursor to Western Economic Diversification's business scale-up and productivity program, which has been instrumental in supporting businesses in the west.

In a report produced by the Startup Genome project, globally, technology start-ups are the number one engine of economic growth and job creation. In 2018 we saw a total of $3.7 billion of VC investment in Canadian start-ups. According to the OECD, Canada now ranks number three in the world for venture capital investments. Furthermore, some of the most valuable companies in the world, such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, Airbnb and Uber, were born during a financial crisis.

Considering our increasing national debt, in order to secure the future of Canada's economy, we need to take bold and rapid action, as we have already seen is possible. This will undoubtedly require continued investment into frontier technologies. It would be prudent to enable Canadian taxpayers to benefit from the upside potential beyond employment and corporate taxes paid. However, the biggest challenge that many Canadian start-ups face is raising capital. Due to their historical fund performance, Canadian venture capital funds tend to be more risk-averse compared with those of their foreign counterparts, and just aren't investing as often as is required. As a result, many Canadian start-ups need to raise capital from VCs outside of Canada or from angel investors and family offices.

According to reports from NACO and Alberta Enterprise Corporation, on average over 85% of early-stage start-up investment comes from angel investors; and from the CVCA, venture capital funding fell 7.5% in the first quarter of 2020. Furthermore, modelling by the IEC shows that a 25% drop in employment for tech start-ups would wipe out 274,000 high-skilled jobs across Canada.

This effect is compounded in the prairies, just when the start-up ecosystems were beginning to mature. In 2019 western Canada had the highest level of angel investments in the last decade. Many of those angel investors are now facing a liquidity squeeze as a result of the economic blow to the energy, real estate and agricultural sectors, where the majority of their wealth was created. As a result, this deal flow has ceased, and many innovative start-ups are at risk of failing. If this is not remedied soon, we will lose over a decade of progress and hundreds of millions of dollars in R and D investment.

The Canadian government can address this core issue by implementing an investment matching program similar to recent proposals in the United Kingdom and Germany. This could be administered via such regional programs as WD and FedDev, or Canada could develop a new sovereign wealth fund. While this would help ensure that Canadian companies remain Canadian owned, the intent is not to nationalize industries. This would simply be another funding option available for any qualifying start-up that would relieve the liquidity crunch we are currently experiencing, and attract more investment into Canadian technology companies from Canadian VCs and accredited and foreign investors.

Today Canadian taxpayers are already taking on the same risk via such funding programs as SR and ED, IRAP and ISED, which currently de-risk the returns primarily for the benefit of foreign investors. Why not have the opportunity to provide returns back to all Canadians, which could close the gap on our national debt?

This isn't a new idea. FedDev previously had the investing in business innovation program that successfully matched accredited angel investments up to $250,000. Over the last decade, as a technology entrepreneur, I have had the opportunity to see the future that Canadians are building today, and I can tell you that this future is bright, but I can also tell you that right now this future is at risk.

As a result of declining energy prices, Alberta in particular has been hit hard. This is not just an Alberta problem but a Canadian problem. Undoubtedly our energy and agriculture sectors need support but we also desperately need to diversify our economy, and developing front-tier technology companies in Alberta is critical to this. Now more than ever is the time for Canada to take bold action, which will propel us into the next decade as a world leader, and set up future generations in Canada for prosperity.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my opinions. I'd be happy to have further discussions about these proposals at your convenience.

Keep up the great work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much.

Our next witness is Mr. Jeff Musson from Dynamite Network.

You have the floor for seven minutes.

[Jeff Musson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dynamite Network]

Thank you.

Before I begin my remarks, I would like to thank the committee for allowing me the opportunity to speak today, but more importantly, I want to thank all members of our government for the work they've done during this pandemic.

In addition to being a tech entrepreneur, I'm also the founder of Coding for Veterans, a not-for-profit organization. It is from both these perspectives that I'm testifying before you today. My testimony focuses on how Canada can leverage cybersecurity as a driver of economic activity and growth in defence of our economy. Like all Canadians, I'm concerned about economic recovery post-pandemic. COVID-19 has given us an opportunity to not just rebuild our economy, but to reimagine it and rebuild it better than it was before.

Working from home, online medical appointments, live video conferencing and online retail have changed our lives forever. All those sectors require a secure cyber environment in which to operate.

As background, Coding for Veterans is a tech industry-led initiative, in partnership with the University of Ottawa, that retrains military veterans for jobs in Canada's cybersecurity sector. It is a unique program that delivers curriculum 100% online with professors and provides globally recognized cyber industry accreditation.

My team has learned a tremendous amount related to retraining of individuals that I believe can be applied to many Canadians who are unemployed as a result of COVID-19. Not only has our program continued without interruption during this pandemic, it has actually grown. Pre-COVID-19, studies showed that Canada had over 25,000 unfilled cyber jobs, and demand has increased for cyber talent during this pandemic. As we were seeking placement for the most recent grads from our program, I was intrigued by the number of calls I received from Canada's financial institutions, defence contractors and others. I asked them, “When everyone is laying off, how is it that you guys and your companies are hiring?” The simple answer was, “We don't have enough talent.”

There are many lessons to be learned from COVID-19. The N95 mask and PPE shortage taught us that we can't count on other nations to come to our rescue. Another lesson we learned from COVID-19 is that Canada and the world were brought to their knees without one missile being launched or one foreign soldier invading our country. My fear is that while we're focused on pandemics at our front door, we will leave our side door unlocked and be vulnerable to cyber-attacks that will cripple our economy just as we're on the road to recovery.

Earlier, this committee heard testimony from Scott Jones, who's the head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. He and others stated that during the pandemic they have seen cyber-attacks continue and be directed out of universities and medical establishments with attempts to steal data. Mr. Jones also testified that the Government of Canada relies on partnering with the private sector to protect Canadian industry.

Here's the missing piece: Where are we going to find the talent to fill these jobs?

It's great that we have a plan, but without enough trained workers, how do we as a country defend ourselves? The most direct answer is that we need to train more cybersecurity workers.

The follow-up question is, how do we do this and how do we fund it?

For starters, you need a robust training framework. The Coding for Veterans program has a proven retraining template with cyber industry curriculum and certification. We have the capacity to expand our program and establish a separate cohort called “Cyber Skills for Canadians,” targeted specifically at retraining unemployed workers for jobs in cybersecurity.

How do we pay for this?

I can appreciate that the Canadian government has unprecedented fiscal challenges and is looking for out-of-the-box thinking. With this in mind, we propose that retraining people for cybersecurity jobs can be 100% funded by the industrial and technology benefits policy program, which already exists through ISED. This program states that for every defence contract awarded in Canada of over $100 million, an equivalent amount of money be injected into the Canadian economy by the winning bidder. Currently, government stats show that defence contractors owe $34.5 billion in outstanding obligations, with $2.6 billion of that yet to be identified and $850 million of that in arrears. If we can leverage just a fraction of the existing ITB program to fully fund cyber retraining, it will not cost the taxpayers of Canada one single cent, while creating thousands of cyber jobs.

In closing, I believe that we, as a nation, should be retraining our unemployed workers for jobs in Canada's cybersecurity industry. We can support the expansion of our digital economy by building up our cyber defences while at the same time filling thousands of jobs. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn a difficult chapter in our country's history into one of our shining moments.

Those are my introductory comments. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I would be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much, Mr. Musson.

On behalf of INDU, thank you for all you're doing for our brave men and women in uniform who serve. We greatly appreciate that.

We're now going to move to StarFish Medical.

Mr. Phillips, you have the floor for seven minutes.

[Scott Phillips, Chief Executive Officer, StarFish Medical]

Thank you.

I'd like to defer to my colleague, John Walmsley, to start us off.

[John Walmsley, Executive Vice-President, Strategic Relationships, StarFish Medical]

Hi. I'm glad to be here.

I'm John Walmsley, executive vice-president of strategic relationships at StarFish, and I have been leading our ventilator mission.

In March, we were asked by the NGen supercluster to evaluate two potential ventilator technologies that could be manufactured by a collaboration of their industrial partners. On Saturday, March 20, two of our experienced engineers and I flew to Winnipeg from Victoria—a strange thing to be doing as the provinces went into lockdown. We met with Dr. Magdy Younes, the inventor of the Winnipeg ventilator. Dr. Younes's team had pulled two prototypes from deep in his basement and set them up for us to see. We spent the day, wearing masks as we worked, learning all about them. The design seemed an ideal candidate for an emergency ventilator, as the technology was robust and used components that would not compete with the supply chain of modern ventilators. The interface was well-thought-out and simple enough for supervised use in case of “corridor medicine”. The core of the system was a large piston, which we knew would suit any automotive manufacturer who might join the effort. On the plane home, which we shared with high school students glad to be returning from Germany, we were already working on the mechanical and electrical architecture for a new design based on this technology.

By the end of the first week, we had defined the requirements for the system and had offers of assistance from throughout the NGen network of companies and beyond. Linamar-MacDon and General Dynamics were among the first to provide logistical support.

By the end of the second week, we had successfully presented the design to three expert panels: Health Canada, NGen and ISED. A very helpful letter of intent followed. We had over 30 design engineers at this point, turning plans into reality: in mechanics, electronics, software and user interface design.

By the end of April, we had a design that we called “frozen”. It is still changing to react to the availability of parts and testing results, but we knew what we were building in detail. The core of our engineers and sub-assembly suppliers across the country have been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

On Friday, at the end of May, we completed the first full testing of our completed units. We will be submitting for Health Canada authorization very shortly. From there, we will continue the ramp-up with our flexible and enthusiastic contract manufacturer, Celestica. This two-and-a-half-month project would normally take three years. How have we moved so fast?

Past clients in Canada and the U.S. helped us define a system that will be truly useful in the ICU, but the system is not fancy. All choices were made to be fast and flexible to allow for change. The StarFish team has a wide variety of experience and is used to rapidly developing new medical devices through a well-proven process. Some on the team have 40 years of experience; for others, this is their first co-op term.

Throughout Canadian industry, any CEO took my call. Many called Scott and me. NRC IRAP and NGen are governmental organizations with personal working relationships with industry and were invaluable in finding solutions. Health Canada's regulatory group has been unfailingly responsive, supporting the push while ensuring that products are safe and effective. Global Affairs, Public Works and PHAC have all contributed wonderfully. The collaboration among ventilator initiatives has been open and refreshing. I check in regularly with peers at other companies. We have also provided regulatory advice to those developing a medical device for the first time, including to Professor McDonald's initiative.

Due to speed, this has not been a cheap enterprise. A common project management phrase is “Cheap, fast, good: pick two.” Normally, in our world, speed is last. Companies need the product to be good and are only willing to spend just enough. In this case, cheap has been last. In order to deliver a safe product fast, we have paid for contingencies that we have not necessarily needed. We have custom-machined parts in Canada rather than ordering ready-made parts from overseas, but we still needed to source some key components internationally. We have used over-specified parts to be sure they will work, and we are leaving much more work than normal to the manufacturing phase.

We are proud to have answered a national call. Our team will be tired when they are done, but they are not done yet.

Scott.

[Scott Phillips]

Thank you, John.

I speak to you today as the CEO of StarFish Medical and also as the chair of the LifeSciences British Columbia industry association. As the premier company in this space in Canada, we are proud to have an opportunity to contribute to this important initiative.

Like so many companies in the industry, we mobilized early to develop capacity as required, but we were a little unsure of how best to contribute. It was only when the CEO of NGen called to suggest that we step into ventilators that we actually connected the dots. Then, as John elegantly laid out, we were able to mobilize quickly.

Also, LifeSciences British Columbia mobilized on their own initiative. Like many industry associations, their lifeblood is holding events, which you can't do at this time. They hired a supply chain person and started managing PPE. They mobilized local industry to start assembling testing capacity and supplies. We're very proud of that organization and other industry associations across Canada for their contributions.

We have seen a lot of well-meaning initiatives that foundered, unlike Dr. McDonald's initiative, which managed to get through the regulatory requirements. Any number of initiatives by well-meaning people who did not understand the regulatory environment of our industry were not successful. By and large, we think it is a good thing that Health Canada is finding a balance between what's safe for Canadians and responding effectively at this important time.

It's also evident that national borders are becoming thicker, as Jeff mentioned, and if we want to have strategic capacity for critical supplies, we have a ways to go. In Canada, the industry runs about a $7-billion-per-year deficit on medical devices. Largely, we just have huge specialized companies sprinkled across the country, and that's one observation I would like to make.

However, overall, we're proud of the contribution we've made and of being able to contribute, and also the contribution of government and government agencies across the country. We feel we've done something truly meaningful.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Mr. Joe McBrearty from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.

You have the floor for seven minutes.

[Joe McBrearty, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories]

Good morning, Madam Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today.

My testimony today is to complement that provided by Dr. Art McDonald and perhaps provide some insight into the collaboration among so many, including those at CNL, TRIUMF, SNOLAB and the McDonald Institute.

Also, I’d be pleased to answer any questions on the role of our national laboratories and our multidisciplinary system coupled with universities, and the power of collaboration, both in times of need and, perhaps equally important, post-COVID and into the future.

However, first let me provide some background into the three Canadian national laboratory partners working alongside Dr. McDonald, our role in the project, and then a few words regarding the role of national labs and the potential future benefits of deeper integration and collaboration.

First, TRIUMF is Canada's national particle accelerator centre. It is one of Canada's premier multidisciplinary big-science laboratories and a leading subatomic physics research centre internationally. Located in Vancouver, TRIUMF is owned and operated by a consortium of 21 Canadian universities from Victoria to Halifax. I am joined online today by Dr. Jonathan Bagger, TRIUMF’s director and CEO.

Next, SNOLAB, another collaborator in the MVM project, is a leading science facility focused on discovery research in subatomic physics, largely neutrino and dark matter physics, but also other interdisciplinary fields using high-sensitivity radioisotope assay. It is located near Sudbury, Ontario, deep underground in the operational Vale Creighton nickel mine. I am joined online by Dr. Nigel Smith, the executive director of SNOLAB.

Lastly, CNL, or Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, is your nuclear science and technology laboratory. Our 3,300 employees, including over 500 of the world’s top scientists, engineers and technicians, provide unique capabilities and solutions across a wide range of industries. You may be aware of some of our active projects, including research and development into small modular reactors to provide clean, reliable energy for remote communities; cybersecurity for industrial control systems; and, together with TRIUMF, the development and production of new isotopes, including actinium-225, in our collective battle against cancer.

You may also be aware of our rich past as Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, or AECL, the inventors of the CANDU reactor technology now providing over 60% of Ontario’s clean energy, or as the home of molybdenum-99 production from the storied National Research Universal reactor, which by some estimates has provided radioisotopes to a billion patients worldwide.

As you may be aware, CNL is now operating under a government-owned, contractor-operated model. In short, CNL is a private sector company managing and operating government-owned assets and liabilities in a performance-based contract overseen by AECL, a federal Crown corporation. I should note that when the pandemic started back in mid-March, AECL, our federal Crown corporation, without reservation or hesitation instructed CNL to do whatever possible to leverage our scientific and engineering capabilities in this global fight.

That ties us back to the ventilator project and some of our discoveries. Dr. McDonald established our connection to the Italian MVM ventilator effort and engaged these Canadian national laboratories to bring their complementary capabilities together for a common objective. Each lab brought specific expertise in critical areas honed by decades of experience.

For example, TRIUMF is primarily the lead on the pre-manufacturing phase, including prototype testing, Health Canada certification, software development support and the primary interface with the manufacturers.

SNOLAB, leveraging its expertise in gaseous states, was the lead on the gas supply module and provided process mechanical support. SNOLAB also coordinated external communications requests, allowing scientists and engineers to focus solely on this vital project.

At CNL, leveraging our multidisciplinary systems approach, we provided mechanical, instrumentation, software, safety and overall engineering support. Having designed and built many reactors over the years, CNL has significant experience with formal design and development protocols, and also getting technologies out of the laboratory and into the market.

Frankly, I am inspired by the talent at all three of these national laboratories. But all our efforts would not have been possible without the tireless leadership of Dr. McDonald, whose unquestionable faith-like purpose to save lives and ability to lead in a time of crisis was key to the success of this project.

This brings me to my final point and a key discovery that I alluded to earlier. The contributions of each of these national laboratories and by all the scientists studying dark matter were not part of our day jobs. Particle physicists, sub-atomic researchers, and nuclear scientists and engineers do not routinely go to work with a mandate to invent and build mechanical ventilators for the medical community in 60 days or less.

But when needed —and most importantly, when working in combination across a broad spectrum of basic and applied disciplines—the depth and breadth of scientific and engineering excellence within Canada’s network of national facilities can be redeployed to solve the most demanding and urgent of problems. Our laboratories stand ready to be of service to the nation especially when borders are closed, international supply chains are limited, and the country needs to employ its own ingenuity and know-how to weather a storm.

With our innovative spirit and our drive to provide solutions to complex problems, Canada’s national labs are a tremendous asset to the nation. More important, when they are brought together, the opportunity is boundless and the potential to propel Canada’s prosperity is great.

We hope that the collaboration on the MVM project has helped to demonstrate the value and the potential of the national laboratory to Canada. On behalf of AECL and my national lab colleagues at TRIUMF, SNOLAB, and everyone at CNL, I can say that we’d be pleased to work with you post-COVID to further study how a network of Canada’s scientists, researchers and engineers in its totality can make Canada more innovative and internationally competitive.

Thank you for your time. We’d be pleased to answer any questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you so much.

With that we'll start our first round of questions. Our first round of questions goes to MP Rempel Garner.

You have the floor for six minutes.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll just start by addressing Mr. Walmsley. Twenty years ago at the University of Manitoba's industry liaison office it was actually part of my job to work with Dr. Younes's patents related to the Winnipeg ventilator. So it's really nice to hear about him because he made such a tremendous contribution to the U of M and a certain blond MP's early career. That's pretty cool. But I digress.

Our scope of work right now, per the notice of meeting, is the Canadian response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of our witnesses made the comment about helping to ensure that Canadian companies remain Canadian, which I think is really important. The COVID-19 crisis has precipitated reports of significant devaluation of companies that hold strategic Canadian assets, including significant intellectual property, natural resources and more. In turn, there have been questions raised as to whether the current threshold should trigger a net benefit review under the Investment Canada Act...need to be adjusted, as well as what types of purchases of Canadian companies and strategic assets by state-owned enterprises by authoritarian countries should be tolerated. I think this issue is important. It should be looked into objectively immediately and it is directly material to the business of reviewing the Canadian response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Therefore, I move:

That, given the House motion made last week granted the committees power to study outside their usual scope, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science...and Technology conduct a study on [the] Investment Canada Act; that this study determine the extent to which companies within strategic Canadian industries have been devalued as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; the extent to which foreign buyouts may occur; determine whether the current Investment Canada Act valuation thresholds [are] adequate to trigger a net benefit review given the potential extreme devaluation of companies within strategic Canadian industries; determine whether Canada should place a temporary moratorium on acquisitions from state-owned enterprises of authoritarian countries; that this study consist of no less than four meetings; that this study be completed by June 21, 2020; that the Committee table its findings; and that the Government table a comprehensive report.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

We have a motion on the floor, and I open the floor for debate.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Madam Chair, the motion on the floor I'd like to be reviewed. With a 48-hour notice on the motion, maybe when we come back we can have discussion on it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Technically, while it is in fact related to COVID-19 and the study that we are doing and it is admissible, I would like to ask Madam Rempel Garner if she'd like to allow the other members of the committee the opportunity to review the motion put forward so that we can have adequate debate and vote on it.

I'll turn the floor over to Madam Rempel Garner.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you for ruling it admissible. I believe my staff member is right now circulating the motion in both official languages to all parliamentarians' personal accounts, as well as to the clerk of the committee. It is in order and I can speak to it briefly.

Here is my concern. We're getting a lot of reports in the media about this problem, and I think we need to look at it objectively. I think the place to do that is in our committee.

How many companies could be affected by this particular issue, and in what industries? Does the ICA net benefit review trigger at the right threshold, given the devaluation of assets? I'm seeing more this weekend. I saw a lot of coverage of this, and we're running out of time in June. We're at the beginning of the month already. Given that our next scheduled meeting isn't until Friday, I'm not comfortable waiting for a week to move this motion. I think it's something that is fairly straightforward, and it should be disposed of today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

I'd like to ask if it's possible, Madam Rempel Garner, because it's being distributed, as you mentioned, as we speak, to come back to this at the end of this meeting so that we can continue with the testimony of the witnesses we have here and we can make sure to leave some time at the end of the meeting to discuss it. Would that be acceptable to you?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I'd rather put a timeline on it so that we don't run out of time to discuss it and then not meet until Friday about it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

I'd like to give the members an opportunity to see it and I understand it's being circulated. We can always keep 10 minutes at the end of the meeting, if that would be acceptable to you, so that we can discuss it.