International Trade Committee on May 9th, 2024

[Jamie Deith]

—so that it will actually make money.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

No. I am sorry. Government making money in the market mechanism is unheard of. It is always the private sector. I would note that I don't mind the private sector making money.

In Canada, we always claim that we are the mining capital of the world. If we can't generate capital for the critical mining companies in Canada, then where else? Who else can?

[Jamie Deith]

Well, China has dedicated enormous amounts of capital toward mining projects. This is part of how they've become dominant in so many minerals. They have been proactive in taking control of resources, not only within China but outside of China.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

I understand that China is dominant. They control 70% to 90% of mineral processing. They have acquired mines across the world. I do understand that. That's the reason we are providing incentives for the companies to come up in every single point of the value chain, from mines, with the investment tax credit, to the battery manufacturers, we are providing—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kyle Seeback]

I have to interrupt. We're 40 seconds over the time. I gave a little bit of latitude.

We'll now move to Mr. Savard-Tremblay for two and a half minutes.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Guénette and Mrs. Auger, from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, I know that you recently surveyed your members on the Canada Border Services Agency's digital assessment and revenue management initiative. You recently presented me with the main findings.

The implementation of this initiative has been officially postponed until next fall. Are you satisfied with that decision?

[Michelle Auger]

Yes. There are still a lot of other concerns about the portal. We'd like to see changes and more flexibility for small businesses, but that will give them time to fully understand the system and the various functions of the portal. We have a bit more time to work with the Canada Border Services Agency and explain to small businesses how the portal works. We have a number of other concerns about it, but that may be the subject of another conversation.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

But we're taking note. How have collaboration and communication gone with the agency since the initiative was launched?

[Michelle Auger]

Communication could be improved. Documents are often given a few days in advance and use language that's difficult for Canadian entrepreneurs to understand. There are also ongoing changes, and the way they're communicated further confuses the situation.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Do you think the SMEs will be ready by October?

[Michelle Auger]

We hope so. We're doing everything we can to educate our members on the portal and to make sure they're registered. Next week, we'll be holding a webinar to show them how to register, and we'll certainly hold another one over the summer to ensure that the number of businesses that are fulfilling their obligation to sign up for the portal continues to increase.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

So your members certainly wouldn't have been ready for May 13.

[Michelle Auger]

As of May 13, only 25% of our members who are required to register on the portal, because they import, were registered.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Did you want to say something, Mr. Guénette?

[Jasmin Guénette]

I just wanted to add that there are a lot of resources on our website that can help SMEs better navigate this maze.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

I assume I'm out of time, Mr. Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kyle Seeback]

That's correct.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

That will be all, thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kyle Seeback]

Thank you.

I will now turn to Mr. Baldinelli for five minutes.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I'm going to go to the Railway Association—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kyle Seeback]

Excuse me. I'm sorry. I forgot that it's Ms. Blaney turn for two and a half minutes. I apologize.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I know I'm new, but hopefully I won't be forgotten.

I'm going to come back again to Mr. Deith. It was an interesting exchange we had, and I want to clarify a few things to make sure I understand.

It sounds like the work you did was for 17 years. It seems to me that we can talk about the minerals across Canada, but there's something not working in our system if those opportunities are not coming to fruition.

Can you talk about where you see the gaps? When it comes to capital, what is the blockage in having that capital engaged?

[Jamie Deith]

Where capital tends to fall short is the stage that is very capital intensive, which is the construction and ramping-up of a new mining project. There are, as it has been pointed out, plenty of incentive programs and things to find minerals and that sort of thing, but we are generally lacking in programs that help companies make that large capital leap. Typically, that's where mine investment firms come in. Alternatively, when they're desperate, the supply chain itself will help to capitalize projects in order to get the materials they need.

This is not happening in the battery space right now. The main reason is this combination of an existing alternative with a China-centric supply chain and the attendant risks for end-users to be taking risk on individual projects. In turn, this applies to individual projects that have to hope they can find a buyer that will actually live up to those contracts at the end of the day.

Really, what I'm advocating for is a way to eliminate a lot of that friction that gets in the way of capital being deployed for this purpose.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

On that, what I hear a lot, as was mentioned earlier, is that we have multinational companies that come into Canada and make the purchases, and we have a branch of Canadians working instead of having that ownership.

Can you explain what the difference is between having multinationals that keep coming into our communities and actually having local people owning a project that benefits the whole region?

[Jamie Deith]

I think it's reasonably safe to say that large multinationals have less of a common interest in our nation than actual domestic, local ownership would have. Having said that, I suppose there's nothing evil about multinational ownership per se.

I think what's preferable, if we can get it, is more domestic ownership and participation.