As I mentioned earlier, I think the Inflation Reduction Act is having quite an effect on the possibility for Canada to attract new players to build batteries and battery components in Canada. I think we really have to look into that.
Let's be honest here. Minister Champagne has been doing an amazing job of attracting investment in Canada, whether it's for batteries, vehicles, components or anodes and cathodes, but it is a challenge.
There is one more thing I would like to mention. We have talked about the fact that in working to develop a mining industry that's going towards net zero and decarbonizing the economy, many of the critical minerals do need a lot of time—too much time, as far as we are concerned—to be opened and authorized and to start producing.
We need to have refining done here as well. People don't realize that what's happening in China is that many of the critical minerals do not come from China. They are bought by China and they are being refined in China. We have to develop a refining industry here that will thrive more than what we have seen in the past. My colleague here from the aluminum industry was mentioning that exactly.
We also have to make sure that we work in partnership—and I want to emphasize the word “partnership”—with first nations. We cannot replicate the same mistakes we have made in the past, where we come on their land and say that we're opening this mine here or there and we will see how we compensate them afterwards. To me, this is a critical issue because if we do not address that right from the beginning, it's going to be a major roadblock.