Industry Committee on March 4th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Yes, thank you, Minister, and thank you, Mr. Lemire.

You certainly use your time to good effect. Every time you ask questions, I spare a thought for the interpreters, because you can put out a lot of words per minute.

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

Well, it's two and a half minutes. That's not a lot, Mr. Chair.

I could invite the committee to give us five-minute rounds, like the other ones. That might help us and help the interpreters, whom I thank again.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

We will resume this discussion.

Mr. Masse will now have the floor, also for two and a half minutes.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll follow up on that vein, because it's an important issue that this committee actually dealt with before in Bill C-25. It looked at the Canadian Business Corporations Act and the inclusion of women and visible minorities on boards of directors in Canada. We went with a model of “comply or explain” for the boardrooms of Canada to report on, versus mandates or percentages.

Could we perhaps get an update on how we're doing in that regard? That was about four or five years ago with the former industry minister. I want to know where we are with that. It would be important to get an update, especially with March 8 coming up.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Masse. You're always a leader on these issues.

I would say that one of the things I'm proud of—and I can take no credit for it, apart from the fact that it's our government—is that the previous ISED minister launched a 50/30 challenge, with 50% women in key decision positions in companies and 30% minorities. I think this is really transforming Canada in a very positive way. When I joined, we were below the 1,000 mark. We pushed that to well beyond 1,000 companies that are subscribing to this pledge.

For anyone who's been in business, Mr. Généreux and others, we know that diversity and inclusion make a huge difference. It's not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do if you just want to look at the bottom line. I'm very proud of that. We're going to continue to push it, because we know that this is one way to make sure we succeed in the economy of the 21st century.

I know that time is limited, but let me add one thing. The question I get the most is not whether we can financially support companies but whether we have enough talent to support their growth. This was exactly the same question the Japanese investor asked me this morning. It was not about the grant or the subsidies. He asked if we had enough talent for them to come to Canada. I think we need to use all our talent to succeed in the 21st century.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Could we get your commitment, perhaps with the committee analysts, to get an update on where we are with that? I haven't seen it brought up very much. It's something that doesn't seem to get a lot of attention, but it was pretty important. Could we get that commitment? March is an important month for equality. It would be good to get at least some modern stats to see whether the model we went towards has been successful or not.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Definitely. I will commit that to the committee. I was talking to the officials as you were asking the question.

Mr. Chair, these statistics are available. We'll make them available to the committee ahead of this very special date. I'm looking at the deputy minister.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the officials—I think all of the ministers here are nodding—because nothing is possible without them. I think as parliamentarians we should all applaud them for the outstanding work they're doing on this file and many other files.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

You're over by 45 seconds, so thank you, Mr. Masse.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

I'm fair with everyone.

I'll now move to MP Gray for five minutes.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Ng, you said there was a process where organizations applied to oversee boost your business. This appears to have been a departmental selection process. Would that be correct?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

It is the departmental selection process. Yes.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Great. Thank you, Minister.

Did you meet with Ryerson or Magnet representatives during the application process for this of July 8 to August 6, 2021?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

No, I did not.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Well, we see on the lobby registry that Ryerson University met with you on July 16, 2021. What was the topic of discussion at that meeting?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I will have to get back to you on that.

I can say to you that with respect to this process, there certainly was a selection process. It was a public and an open process. We can certainly provide a detailed accounting of that. As these processes go, they need to be open. They need to be transparent. They certainly are open for public inspection.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

You know, meeting with.... I know that, for myself, when I meet with different stakeholders and organizations, I at least recall the general topic of discussion. I think it's a little surprising that you can't recall even what the topic of discussion might have been at that meeting.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I have many meetings with many, many stakeholders and certainly institutions across the country who have incubators and accelerators, where some of the really terrific companies are there, looking to scale or to ask questions about what the government may be doing in terms of how to help companies grow, and grow into those international markets. It would be very normal of many of the meetings that I do.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

What is a student incubator?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

It's an incubator attached to post-secondary institutions.

There are many of them across the country. The Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto is an example. There is VentureLabs out of Simon Fraser University as well. There would be others out of HEC Montréal at Laval in Quebec. There are many across the country.

I think this is really what Minister Champagne was talking about, which is this incredible talent across the country that is being nurtured in post-secondaries overall. It is also where those great companies are coming from, the entrepreneurs.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

That's great.

Just so we're clear, you were lobbied by Ryerson, which founded Magnet, the university you led in the president's office, while the selection process was open for boost your business.

I'll ask again. Did you consult the Ethics Commissioner on the award of the boost your business contract?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

With respect to the Canadian digital adoption program, that program was put out to a selection process. That selection process was both public and open. Responses to requests for proposals came in, which the impartial civil service reviewed.

As I said earlier, I don't see those. What I see are the recommendations once that vetting and due diligence are done. Those recommendations come to me from our officials.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

Are you the person who makes the final decision on these types of applications and these contracts?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I am the person who makes a decision on recommendations that come to me from the officials.