Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada represents more than 90% of the Canadian aerospace industry, including the defence sector. I want to thank the committee for this study, as it is of critical importance to our nation's defence and innovation potential and is truly a non-partisan issue. As you know, Canada's aerospace industry is a key contributor to our national and local economies from coast to coast. Our call for an industrial strategy and a greater investment in the industry will create the kind of business environment in this country that encourages investment, which creates high-value jobs. We also feel that an industrial strategy will help fix the current export permit system, which is a significant frustration for many of our members.
Procurement should be about better collaboration between government and industry. It should be about positioning Canada and our industry for the work, innovation and defence requirements of the future. It needs to be about creating more opportunities and it needs to be about better planning. It is our hope that your work in this committee will result in this government, or future governments, creating a framework that commits to the establishment of an industrial strategy. Internationally, we are seeing our friends and competitors have different relationships between industry and government. We require the same forethought here.
Members of the committee, in the past, decision-makers like you made aerospace and defence a priority. We need that same leadership and vision today. In fact, the NATO Secretary General put it very clearly last week, that “there is no defence without industry”.
This is not a partisan issue. Rather, the threats to continental and world security are more complex and multi-faceted than they have ever been. The strategic environment requires a comprehensive approach. This is why industry is eagerly awaiting the promised defence policy update. We are also looking for a clear commitment through the defence policy update on how the government will be achieving our commitments to multinational organizations like NATO.
We do believe that there needs to be more investment to both provide the necessary equipment and speed up procurement. Today's procurement system is burdensome, complex and lengthy. It must be transformed into one that is efficient and strategic. In order to succeed and to ensure that we have domestic capability and capacity, we need a procurement system that operates effectively and efficiently and is capable of responding to rapidly evolving international security threats and emerging capability requirements.
This moment presents a unique opportunity for intensified collaboration between the government and industry to refine our procurement approaches and processes. If we fail to engage in early collaboration, Canada risks missing out on opportunities to leverage our innovation and industrial strengths to meet our growing defence and security needs.
To address these challenges and seize the opportunities, I want to give some ideas that the government should be considering.
First, we need to build stronger strategic relationships with industry through ongoing and sustained engagement. The federal government and industry should collaboratively develop a strategic relationship through more meaningful and sustained engagement practices.
Second, we need to better align requirements with needs. We need to work together to develop requirements to ensure capability relevance for current and future needs.
Third, we need to tailor procurement approaches to the nature of the acquisition. Match the approach with the nature of the acquisition, adapting when necessary to ensure an appropriate fit. The determination of this will require a strategy and advanced discussions so that there's clarity and transparency.
Fourth, we should consider adopting a risk-based procurement approach. Work should be done to increase the use of risk-based contract approvals to streamline defence procurement and reduce unnecessary process requirements.
Fifth, we need to work together to enhance government procurement capacity through collaborative training and skills development. We need a new relationship between the federal government and industry to enhance procurement capacity. We need to develop mechanisms for sharing skills, talent and risk management approaches. This goes to some of the required cultural changes that you've been hearing about.
In conclusion, many of these recommendations would be addressed through a comprehensive aerospace industrial strategy that would provide certainty, transparency and the identification of key industrial capabilities and capacities that we need here in Canada. Getting this right and optimizing defence procurement are essential for our nation's security and innovation potential. Together, we can harness innovation, maintain control over our defence capabilities and ensure that Canada in fact remains strong, secure and engaged.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
