Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The transformation to a clean economy across the world has just begun. It may have started a few years back, but in the bigger scheme of things, this is a multidecade thing that has now started. There will be small hiccups, small changes, small adjustments, tactical adjustments, strategic adjustments, etc. that affect it.
Canada is at the right spot at the right time to make maximum use of this opportunity that is there and to make us a global leader in all things from mines to mobility. We have started supporting the exploration and development of critical minerals, which, I have to say, the United States is fully supporting, not just with words. The United States defence department is actually investing in Canadian mining companies. The Pentagon is investing. That is how important the critical minerals are, from there up to electric vehicles.
If you look back at the 20th century, that was the era of oil and automobiles, especially cars and trucks. Now, we are moving from that to electric vehicles, and the government has rightly put its money where its mouth is in trying to support this entire industry through our mainstream mobility strategy.
Northvolt is a big player in Europe, and the small changes it is making in Europe are not going to affect it here, as it has clearly said. It is time for us to encourage as many global players as possible to come to Canada and set up their plants. We should not interfere in their day-to-day operations, in their short-term strategic objectives or in the tactics they use.
In fact, this particular move by the government has attracted, and has resulted in, Canada being the second- or third-biggest recipient of foreign direct investment in the OECD countries, including the highest per capita foreign direct investments in any of the G7 countries. Therefore, it is yielding results.
In addition to the EV plants, the battery plants and the mining companies, we also need to focus on the processing of minerals, which is the sort of thing I think this committee should look into. We should check where we are in that part of the chain, from mines to mobility. We are being very active. We see a lot of projects in the critical minerals mining projects. We see a lot of battery plants. We see a lot of EV manufacturing plants.
In that chain, we are not seeing many stories about the processing of these minerals here. I think, if anything, the committee has to look into this segment or this sector. It is that sweet spot that we have to focus our limited time and limited resources on.
I suggest that, instead of this motion.... I don't think this motion is relevant at this time. Anytime there are small changes in corporate sector strategies, etc., we're going to see a lot of changes, a lot of positive things. Sometimes we may feel that some of the actions are not exactly very positive, but we have to give due credit to the corporate sector to do what is best in its interest, in its business, which does affect the overall benefit of this transformation to electric vehicles and the transformation to a clean economy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.