Thank you. I will begin my speech again.
I was saying hello to our colleague Mr. Deltell who had joined the committee. It is a pleasure to see him again.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am very happy to be with my colleagues once again to discuss my priorities as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada. Since being appointed as Minister in January 2021, and since receiving my mandate renewal letter from the Prime Minister in December, I have worked above all else to create the conditions for the long-term economic success of Canada.
I'm also honoured to appear today alongside my two cabinet colleagues, Minister Ng and Minister Hutchings. I know they are equally engaged with our post-COVID recovery, which is why we are taking a collaborative approach to achieve our ambitious objectives and to use the tools at our disposal to support Canada's economic recovery and prepare us for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
I would now like to highlight a few of the ways that we are supporting Canadian industry during this unprecedented time in our country.
Setting the right conditions for industrial success and economic growth requires everyone to look towards the future.
However, we understand that in order to stay competitive, the Canadian economy needs continuous investments in innovation and in all industries and, of course, in all sectors. That is why our government is continuing to support large-scale research and development in Canada's traditional industries, such as the auto and aerospace industries, natural resources and agri-food.
We also know that the entire international community is still currently experiencing supply chain issues related to COVID-19. This is why my colleagues and I have been working closely with our counterparts and allies around the world, particularly in the United States, Europe and elsewhere to enhance supply chain security for key commodities such as critical minerals, batteries and semiconductors, and in crucial sectors like life sciences, manufacturing, transportation and defence. I will continue to raise these issues as I did on my last trips to Washington, D.C., Mexico and Europe.
Just as we have had the backs of families, small businesses and workers since day one of this pandemic, our government has worked tirelessly to support our industrial community to move toward a resilient, inclusive and low-carbon economic future. We are doing this because we know that growing our economy and protecting our environment go hand in hand.
We will do everything we can to combat climate change—something I know, Mr. Chair, you care very much about—lower emissions and promote Canadian ingenuity as we accelerate the transformation to a net-zero future. At the heart of this is the net-zero accelerator, an initiative through which we are making transformative investments worth over $8 billion to help decarbonize heavy-emitting industries, like steel and aluminum, and support innovation in net-zero growth sectors, such as zero-emission vehicles, batteries and clean tech. I'm sure members of the committee have seen this morning's great announcement from BASF to build a battery ecosystem in our nation.
I would also like to thank our officials. Mr. Chair, as you and all members know, we were able to deliver and help companies across the nation, thanks to the very dedicated civil servants and professionals we have.
This past summer, we made historic investments to decarbonize the operation of Algoma Steel and ArcelorMittal Dofasco, creating good jobs in communities like Sault Ste. Marie and Hamilton in the process. These investments will not only ensure that Canada's steel producers play a key part in our economic recovery, but they will also contribute meaningfully to our climate targets by reducing emissions equivalent to taking almost two million cars off the road. This is quite astonishing.
In 2018, we supported a joint venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto called ELYSIS, which a number of colleagues will be familiar with. This will produce the world's first carbon-free aluminum right here in Canada.
Mr. Lemire, I think you are quite familiar with this initiative.
We are also supporting industry in their efforts to produce low-carbon concrete, so that Canada is a world leader in sustainable construction materials.
These efforts are just a few examples of a strategic, dedicated focus by our government to develop green supply chains that leverage our existing strengths and position us as a global leader in the green industrial transformation.
Canada will soon be a world leader in the production of green steel, green aluminum and green batteries.
Through these initiatives, we are positioning Canada to become a leader in the green industrial revolution that is sweeping the global economy.
We are also supporting the Canadian auto sector as it pivots towards zero-emission vehicle production. Through the mines to mobility initiative, we are building an entire new value chain and attracting anchor investments in critical minerals processing—again, this morning was a good example with BASF—battery cell manufacturing and zero-emission vehicle parts and assembly.
This is about the big picture. This is about the whole ZEV and battery ecosystem. This is about seeing where the market is going and positioning Canada in a leading role. This is about taking strategic, immediate action with a long-term vision.
I am very optimistic about our capacity to be that global leader. We have the necessary resources and we have the talent that is needed. We are a government that will continue to be ambitious and will seize the opportunity presented to us to secure a better future for Canadian workers and the planet as a whole.
Of course, all of these will be complemented by initiatives to help develop Canadian clean tech and to support small and medium-sized enterprises—like my colleague Minister Ng is doing every day with a lot of passion—that are active in the decarbonization efforts.
Colleagues, I would now like to talk to you about a subject we are all too familiar with in the wake of the global pandemic: the importance of bio-manufacturing in Canada.
While we are moving forward and leaving the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, we must also make sure that Canada is better prepared to deal with future threats and pandemics.
I know that your committee—I value the work of this committee, Mr. Chair. I want very much for everyone to know that—has already studied this issue and is well aware of that.
When this pandemic began, you will recall that Canada had no biomanufacturing capacity really suitable for a COVID-19 vaccine. From the first days of the pandemic, our government invested to quickly build up a flexible domestic capacity, and we have adopted a historic biomanufacturing and life sciences strategy. This has resulted in an investment of more than $2.2 billion to reinforce Canada's world-leading capabilities in life sciences and biomedical research and grow a vibrant, domestic biomanufacturing and life sciences sector that now supports thousands of good, middle-class jobs.
We have secured a new private sector manufacturing investment with companies like Sanofi in Toronto and made major investments in manufacturing capacities with partners like AbCellera in Vancouver, Resilience Biotechnologies, Medicago in Quebec City, and BioVectra in Prince Edward Island.
We've also strengthened the government-owned manufacturing capacity with the National Research Council, because it was important for me to have a public facility to be able to support our efforts in the future. We will continue to build on this foundation in the years to come.
In addition, we are proud that we have landed one of the first Moderna facilities outside of the United States. We know we can't predict the next pandemic, and we are still finishing the fight against COVID-19, but we can make sure that in the future we are not caught unprepared. This is about ensuring the safety and security of Canadians for generations to come.
I would like to switch gears to focus on the parts of our economy that might be less tangible than steel, aluminum or vaccines, but that are no less important. We are making sure that Canada has the capacity needed to develop and maximize next generation technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. We are doing this with initiatives like the pan-Canadian artificial intelligence strategy and the national quantum strategy, both of which build on Canada's strengths in these emerging areas.
We also know that the future of our economy is undoubtedly digital. I know this committee cares very much about the digital economy. That's why we are working aggressively to get all Canadians high-speed access to the Internet, which I'm sure my distinguished colleague, Minister Hutchings, will speak to you about, because this is about connecting Canadians.
For Canadians to be able to prosper and profit from the digital economy, we know that they must have confidence that their data is secure and their privacy is protected.
That is why I will be introducing a bill in this session of Parliament to guarantee that Canadians enjoy world-class measures to protect their privacy and their data and that actors who break privacy laws are held effectively to account.
Of course, our legislation will establish a modernized privacy framework that enables responsible innovation in the fast-changing digital economy of the 21st century.
Our government wants Canadians to make the most of the digital economy. To do so, we must foster a high level of trust. This will include ongoing efforts to combat cyber-risks and ensure the integrity of Canada's critical system.
We also understand that copyright and intellectual property are vital to Canada's creative, social and economic well-being. By helping Canadians to better understand, protect and access IP, we are making sure that Canadians, entrepreneurs and researchers will have the tools they need to take advantage of new opportunities.
In conclusion, in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we once again saw the tremendous vitality of the Canadian economy and the talent and ingenuity of Canadian workers across our nation. It is a fact I'm reminded of every day in my role as minister. This is why I'm so optimistic about our growth agenda.
In the very early days of the pandemic, when access to life-saving PPE was everyone's primary concern, manufacturers from coast to coast stepped up to retool their operations to help produce masks, gowns, face masks and hand sanitizer. When our focus shifted towards vaccines, we were able to make historic investments to help revitalize our long-dormant domestic biomanufacturing sector.
Even in the face of unprecedented uncertainty, our auto sector has started a historic pivot towards hybrid and zero-emission vehicles, and our booming tech sector continues to make Canada a world-class hub for knowledge and talent.
For these reasons and many others, Mr. Chair, I am very optimistic about our economic objectives and our economic program. We have the talent, the resources and the tools we need to succeed together.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
