Industry Committee on Oct. 29th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

I'm sorry, Mr. Baldinelli. That is your time.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Do you agree?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

That is your time, unfortunately, but she might be able to answer that in the next slot. Thank you.

We will now move to MP Ehsassi. You have the floor for six minutes.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I'd like to start my questioning with Ms. Campbell.

First of all, Ms. Campbell, I would be remiss if I didn't say congratulations on your appointment a couple of months ago. Given the wealth of your experience, I am sure you will do an extraordinary job.

Since 2015, we've seen the government invest approximately $2.5 billion in CSA, but prior to that—especially given that you were explaining to us its social and economic benefits—we saw CSA suffer cutbacks and employee layoffs.

Could you tell me what the impact of those cutbacks prior to 2015 were on the CSA?

[Lisa Campbell]

I wasn't there then, but I have heard from people how difficult any cutbacks are.

I will share with you that when we look at our funding over time and at the spending happening around the world, it really is a new space economy, with governments and the private sector, as you've seen, investing heavily in all sorts of areas: space exploration, low-earth orbit, acquiring sources of data. Canada needs to position itself to keep up with that, in our view. That means having sufficient in-house expertise to oversee contracts when we hire services but also sustaining the pace we have set for ourselves internationally.

Canada really punches above our weight. If we think about some of the tables we are invited to, I was recently at the International Astronautical Congress, and for a relatively small country, Canada has a great reputation for what we bring to the table, including our deep expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence. We are a reliable and trusted partner and we want to preserve that, not only for the work we are able to do but also for our economy.

The Canadian space economy generates close to $6 billion a year in revenue, $2.5 in GDP, and employs directly 10,000 people, mostly in STEM jobs, which are, as you know, very high-paying jobs, and then indirectly another 11,000 people.

As I mentioned in my remarks, this is a sector of the economy that's expected to grow. We do worry about spending in the future. If we look at G7 countries, we had been around the middle of the pack and now we're toward the bottom. It is something that I hear a lot about from very dedicated people who work at the agency.

Thank you.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Now, could I ask you about the Artemis Accords? You referenced them in your opening remarks. I was wondering if you could tell us what led to those accords. We are one of the charter signatories of the accords, so what is their significance domestically and on the global stage?

[Lisa Campbell]

Yes, we announced that at the International Astronautical Congress that I participated in. We announced our signature there.

There are a common set of principles, led by the U.S., developed in consultation with Artemis Accords' partners, which are designed to guide the exploration and use of outer space in a safe and sustainable manner and in accordance with our international treaty obligations. They are a political commitment to safe and sustainable space exploration activities. However, more work is going to have to be done, as I mentioned when we signed them, within the UN structure, to ensure space exploration continues to be for the benefit and interests of all humankind.

We worked with the United States very closely on these to ensure that the Artemis Accords reinforced the principles of the core space treaties, in particular the Outer Space Treaty, and provided guidelines for safe and sustainable space exploration activities and operations.

Right now, if you look at our website, we are consulting with Canadians. We want their views. A lot of the existing treaties were developed in the sixties and seventies when much of the activities we are engaging in now couldn't even be conceived of. We hope to get their feedback as we continue to work with partners on what is the right long-term framework to shape our activities.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you.

Here is my last question: Could you just explain to us, and elaborate, how the 2019 national space strategy is informing the work that you and CSA are doing?

[Lisa Campbell]

It has five goals and 18 objectives. It's really to help ensure that Canada remains a leading spacefaring nation by joining the lunar gateway mission that I talked about, a very exciting project that is the next iteration or evolution from the International Space Station.

It also is designed to help inspire the next generation of Canadians to reach for the stars. We work a lot with students, trying to plan for succession and get people interested in space, not just from an astronaut perspective but also in terms of engineering, as well as lawyers, project managers and IT specialists.

We're also working to harness space to solve everyday challenges for Canadians. There are a lot of direct benefits here on earth, from health, connectivity, security and sovereignty, enhancing access to nutritious food, and managing disasters.

We want to position Canada's commercial space sector to help grow the economy and create jobs for the future and to ensure Canada's leadership in acquiring and using space-based data to support science excellence, innovation and economic growth.

Thank you.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Campbell.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Lemire, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My first question is for Ms. Walden.

I'd like to start by thanking you for speaking French. I wanted to say that because I sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Now, I'm curious as to how satisfied you are with the programs in place.

In June, Minister Joly announced assistance specifically for the Atlantic provinces and Quebec. Of the $30 million earmarked for Quebec, $13.5 million was for small and medium-sized businesses in the tourism sector. As we all know, they have been deeply affected.

In your answer, could you also talk about your level of satisfaction with the wage subsidy program? Should it be expanded to cover a full year? Clearly, tourism businesses make most of their revenue in the summer. Now that the summer is over, the tourism industry has to be ready to respond when the 2021 season starts.

Last, do you think the regional relief and recovery fund measures were adequate?

[Marsha Walden]

Sorry.

I did not receive any interpretation for that question. I'm very sorry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Okay, wait one moment. We're just going to check.

We didn't receive any interpretation for that.

Is anyone else having difficulty with the interpretation?

Ms. Walden, are you on the English channel on Zoom, or are you on “Interpretation”, “Floor”?

[Marsha Walden]

I am currently on what's called “Off”, which I believe to be the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Okay. In order to get interpretation, you'll need to put it on “English”. Otherwise, you will just get exactly what you're hearing on the floor, so if someone's speaking French, you'll only hear it in French, and if someone's speaking English, you'll only hear it in English.

[Marsha Walden]

Oh.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

If you'd like the interpretation from French to English, you must put it on “English”.

[Marsha Walden]

I'm sorry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

What I will do is restart the clock because Mr. Lemire's question obviously didn't get interpreted for you.

Go ahead, Mr. Lemire.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Many thanks, Madam Chair.

First off, Ms. Walden, I want to commend you on your efforts to improve your French. I want to recognize that.

My question has to do with how satisfied you are with the programs in place.

In June, Minister Joly announced millions in funding for the tourism industry, especially in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Of the $30 million earmarked for Quebec, $13.5 million was for small and medium-sized businesses in the tourism sector.

As I see it, what they earn during the summer season is their lifeblood. This season was good, but they have to prepare for next year. Their economic viability is largely dependent on the summer season.

Are the measures in place, especially the wage subsidy program and the regional relief and recovery fund, tailored to the industry's needs?

What could the government do to expand supports for tourism businesses to ensure they survive?

[Marsha Walden]

Thank you for your question.

Certainly, there have been a wide variety of programs that have been very beneficial to the tourism industry, with everything from the emergency wage subsidy, which has really allowed many businesses across the country to remain open and strive to be profitable, to what we've seen with the Canada emergency business account, of course, which has been a very helpful credit availability program, and also the commercial rent assistance.

The collection of all these programs is very much targeted at helping small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the vast bulk of the tourism industry, to survive those very lean months. The summer, as you said, had some bright spots, but for most businesses it still remained very difficult, because the capacity that accommodations and restaurants were able to achieve was severely limited by the need for social distancing.

As we look ahead, we can expect that the next four to five months will be extremely difficult for our industry. All our partners across the country are continuing to develop programs that will ensure a very strong restart, both domestically and internationally should borders reopen and our health authorities consider it safe to do so.

Certainly, for Atlantic Canada, there's been a lot of domestic activity, some of which has been strongly supported by federal programs, including Destination Canada. While I think there's almost nothing that could solve every problem our tourism industry is currently experiencing, this broad range of programs that have come from government in general have been very helpful. I think we are hopeful that we can survive these next few months and get a good start, if health conditions permit, come early spring.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you for your answer. I'm still quite concerned about the support these businesses are getting to cover their fixed costs. They're dealing with a huge challenge—a lack of cash flow. The next few months will determine whether many of them can keep the lights on.

What is the relationship between Destination Canada and regional tourism agencies? What kind of support is your organization able to give them? Tourisme Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the agency in my region comes to mind, as does Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec. They face huge hurdles when it comes to human resources, the coordination of efforts and funding sources, making it difficult to develop tourism programs for the regions. Do you provide regional agencies with any support?

[Marsha Walden]

You're quite correct, in that liquidity remains the number one challenge that tourism businesses are facing in the coming months. A lack of cash flow and the need to cover fixed costs is really the driving force behind the current challenges. I know that industry associations such as the Hotel Association of Canada and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada have made their views known on how government can best support liquidity for the industry, and I know that a number of those supports are being made available through the Business Development Bank of Canada and other sources.

In terms of regional supports, we work extremely closely with the provincial and territorial destination marketing organizations to ensure we are putting money towards supporting the domestic marketplace, which is our nearest and best opportunity at the moment to stimulate demand, and that we're putting the funds in the hands where they can best be applied. In the case of this summer, it was clear that funds needed to be made available at a very hyperlocal level, because our city DMOs had been devastated by the loss of revenues in the hotel sector, from which they derive their funding, and hence we made sure that funds were flowing into communities and cities in order to support those.

Is it enough—

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I'm going to stop you there, Ms. Walden, because I have a quick question for Ms. Campbell.

First, though, congratulations on your appointment, Ms. Walden.

Ms. Campbell, congratulations on your appointment, as well.

Something in your statement struck me. You mentioned farmers. I think it's crucial for farmers to have access to real-time images of their fields. Have you committed to making those data available to farmers? That information is essential when they try to access payments through farm insurance programs.