Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the witnesses.
Mr. Vincent, in view of the minister's answers to my questions about Neo Lithium and the other three companies that were asked to pick up their marbles and go home, I would ask that you take various factors into consideration in your replies.
We know that the government of Canada is getting ready to invest in a Volkswagen battery plant. I have in front of me I a map of mines in Canada and a list of the 31 critical minerals considered important for national security. It's acknowledged that Canada's mines cannot supply all of the lithium and rare earth metals needed to produce batteries, either for the Volkswagen plant or any other future plants. It will therefore have to import these if they are to manufacture and install these batteries.
In view of all these contextual factors, don't you think that foreign investments will be needed in all of Canada's mines? There are, after all, many projects on the table that we would like to undertake.
Under the new version of Bill C‑34, which might be adopted, I believe that the time required to get all these mines up and running, and the investments that will be required, are going to demand a lot of work from public servants. They will have to carry out an extremely thorough analysis. We’re still talking about China, but there may well be companies in other countries that would perhaps want to invest in Canada, particularly in this area.
Words are important. If I'm not mistaken, the minister mentioned a new industrial niche for Canada. He even compared it to the introduction of the automobile in the early 19th century.
In view of all these factors, how are we going to attract foreign investors to Canada, when China is currently producing 30% of all the raw materials needed to make batteries?
That's a long question, but I think you understand the context.