Excellent.
Evidence of meeting #39 for National Defence in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #39 for National Defence in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
I thought that was what your answer would be.
How many jobs are there with Héroux-Devtek in Canada?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
As I said earlier, we estimate at this point that over 20 years this will create and sustain around 2,500 jobs. We have proposals in now such that we believe if we do get this work we could double that.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
How many employees are there today in Canada at Héroux-Devtek?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
Probably around 40.
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
Yes, today. That 2,500 would mean about 125 of our employees per year. So today it's around 40.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Okay.
What would be the impact on Héroux-Devtek if Canada did not have the opportunity to participate in this program and we withdrew from the MOU, delayed this decision?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
The consequences are that other countries that are part of the team, the other nations that have joined, will get our work. Today and every day we're fighting against the Italians, the Turks, and the Dutch. Every country is trying to get a piece of this action.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
A Canadian sustainment conference is going on right now in Fort Worth. Two of our ministers are there, Minister Clement and Minister MacKay. I think there are also representatives from 61 Canadian companies, if I'm correct.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
We have people there too.
Conservative
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Could you describe the value for Héroux-Devtek of participating in that sustainment conference and why you're there?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
We are preparing for the future because sustainment comes after. We are Canada's source of excellence to repair the landing gear of all the airplanes. We repair the C-130J, the P-3 helicopters. We are well known for our service business. So for us it's very important. Eventually we want to get on the sustainment and repair side, the after-market business of the F-35.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
How would you describe Lockheed Martin as a partner?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
A very good partner to us. We are in a great relationship and we certainly want to continue that. We have great relationships with other customers too.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
The other day we had Saab and Eurofighter and Alenia here, and they were all telling us their planes could do the job. Do you work with any of those companies?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
We work a little bit with Alenia. The work we have from Alenia is related to the joint strike fighter.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
That's interesting. Is it fair to say that you have significantly more work with Lockheed Martin than you do with any of those European-based producers?
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
You're also involved in the aerospace industry in the greater Montreal area. Could you describe the difference between the level of integration between the Canadian aerospace industry and North American-based producers of aircraft versus the Canadian aerospace industry and European-based producers?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Héroux-Devtek Inc.
Canada is part of the DPSA, the Defence Production Sharing Agreement. We are considered a domestic source in the U.S. As you know, my company and many others in Canada and Quebec--Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin--do quite a bit of work for the U.S. Department of Defense. There are very close ties between the Canadian defence industry and the U.S. defence industry because of the treaties that were put in place by Canada and the U.S.
Conservative
