Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Whenever government provides loans, it has to be of very strategic value to Canada and Canadians. Our government has stepped in throughout the history of the Canadian government system. At least during the last 20-25 years, we have seen many times government step in and support private businesses through loans, grants and other means.
Telesat is a private sector company funded by venture capitalists. Typically, if they have a business case, commercial banks should be able to step in and fund the business. If the government is coming in and providing this huge loan of $2.1 billion, obviously I'm interested to know the reason behind it. I do support this motion, so that we can look into it. There's nothing to indicate that there's anything wrong in the government decision. My only thought is that we need to know more about the reasons why the government stepped in to support a private sector company. Although a point has been made that the majority ownership lies with U.S. entities, that in itself should not be an issue if there are benefits to Canada and Canadian technologies. If the implementation of whatever project Telesat is undertaking is going to be in Canada, that will stimulate technological development and add to the technological capabilities of Canada.
I don't see any problem there. However, for me to understand in more detail the reasoning behind why this loan has been given to Telesat, I would support this motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.