National Defence Committee on Feb. 9th, 2026

[Christopher Hernandez-Roy]

The very first thing that comes to mind, of course, is China's manipulation and coercion and its using critical minerals as a trade cudgel. That's number one. We want to not trade with or have mineral dependency on any country that is going to weaponize that relationship in a moment of crisis or for some economic gain.

We also, then, want to have partners who might otherwise be reliable partners, but who in a crisis will also not.... Let's say it's within the G7. If we have relationships with critical minerals, say, with Germany, which is in the news a lot maybe because of the submarine deal.... I'm not picking on Germany for any reason, but my point is that, in a crisis, we still want to make sure that it remains a trusted partner, meaning an ally, a friend in fair and foul weather.

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Professor Steyn.

[Dr. Elizabeth Steyn]

I have a slightly different angle. I agree with all of that, but I think we should also look towards other countries in similar types of situations.

I have in mind here specifically Kazakhstan, because Kazakhstan is sitting with China on its back in the way that we have the U.S. on our border. Kazakhstan is very mineral rich. If you look at all of the minerals they have, they don't necessarily want to be dominated by China and they don't immediately have an offtake market.

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Dr. Byers.

[Dr. Michael Byers]

What I can add to the conversation here is that we are a trading country and there's no reason to stop being a trading country. The issue is how we protect the integrity of our mining sector within Canada from malicious actors.

I come back again to the fact that under the Investment Canada Act and the new regulations, the Government of Canada has to be able to and should scrutinize every single foreign investment into rare earth elements and certain other critical minerals to be defined by the government in consultation with experts from the geology sector.

The point here is that we don't want to close ourselves off. We benefit from trading. We just need to make sure that we're not locked into situations we couldn't get out of if a particular ally were to turn on us in some negative way. I do very much support Professor Steyn's encouragement that we look to the European Union as our next big market opportunity, given that there's more stability there at the moment than there is in the United States.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Mr. Bezan, you can have a couple of minutes, and then I would like to go on to some other issues that we have to resolve.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Thank you, sir.

I want to follow up on what Dr. Byers was just saying, and I'll open it up to the other witnesses as well.

We've talked about the Investment Canada Act and how the thresholds in there may be too high. Maybe they should be narrowed down. I've been paying attention to the Tanco Mine, which is actually headquartered in my riding. It's owned by Sinomine and was bought off the New York Stock Exchange. It was below the automatic trigger for a foreign investment review. It produces lithium and tantalum—all on the critical minerals list—as well as cesium. All of it is shipped raw to China.

The government turned a blind eye to this several years ago. The Biden administration, I believe, was in power. It might have been the tail end of the Trump administration. They never said anything because it was off the New York Stock Exchange.

Do we need to have stronger oversight and thresholds of these more insidious investments that look like commercial acquisition, rather than actual investments in critical minerals?

[Dr. Michael Byers]

Yes, I very much share your concern. I think a mistake was made with regard to oversight in that particular instance, and that's precisely the kind of situation we need to guard against in the future.

I share Professor Steyn's concern that companies, like Chinese companies, will seek to engage in multiple incorporations, sometimes in different jurisdictions, in order to hide the paper trail that leads back to the ultimate ownership. That's where the scrutiny has to take place. The Government of Canada should be able to do this. If it can't do it now, in all necessary instances, it needs to develop that capability.

The other thing I will say, in response to a point you raised a few minutes ago, is that I'm not concerned about China physically invading Canada, but I'm very concerned about espionage, particularly as we develop new technologies. We see what Russia is doing with regard to Europe, like jamming GPS signals or drones shutting down airports in peaceful areas of Europe. There's a general level of harassment that we need to be prepared for. It doesn't concern just critical minerals, but we can't be naive about other countries. We live in a dangerous world, and balancing that against—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

I'll interject quickly because time's running short.

When we look at the specifics of the Tanco mine in Manitoba, knowing that tantalum is used in weapons and armour, it very much has a defence purpose. I argued against the government doing this several years ago. It still went ahead because it was below the thresholds that were in place.

Should we now revisit that on the grounds of national security and force Sinomine to divest?

[Dr. Michael Byers]

I think it needs to be considered. The government certainly has the power to expropriate that resource. Expropriation is something that trade-loving countries don't tend to embrace, but in a situation of national security, it certainly is an option.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Professor Steyn.

[Dr. Elizabeth Steyn]

I would recommend putting together a list of strategic minerals and revisiting the ownership of all of those strategic mineral mines.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, Professor Steyn, in her opening comments, had a complete list of 10 to 15 points. Can we make sure that it gets circulated around to everyone, as well as the speaking notes of all of our witnesses today?

If you have any strategic lists that you think we should be aware of, please send them in.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

That's a great way to wrap up. I appreciate that.

Anything you can share with the committee would be welcome. It's certainly a study that all of us are concerned about as we go forward, especially around sovereignty, but also around the economic impacts it's going to have long term.

Again, thank you to the witnesses for being here. I appreciate your time and your testimony.

I have some housekeeping matters, folks, before we leave. You've been sent four budgets. I want to go through them quickly so that we can adopt them, and I can then sign them and proceed.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

I have some questions on the budget.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

There is one regarding a trip to Colorado Springs.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Do you want to do this in camera?

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

That's probably not a bad idea.

To the witnesses, thank you again very much.

We're going to suspend and go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]