National Defence Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2026

[Hudson Lester]

Responsible development is tricky, because everything needs to be built from the ground up. There are no roads, communications or power. Navigating that with Inuit landholders, as well as the communities that are most directly impacted and closest to the project, you have to get into the Inuit impact benefit agreements and things like that to ensure that all parties are in agreement to follow the proper procedures, reclamations and all of that.

It's just an extreme cost, as everything has to start from scratch.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you, Mr. Lester.

Ms. Idlout, was your hand up?

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I'm just hoping that I'll be able to ask a question, or at least say something before the end of this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

If I may interject, I'm going to recognize the time. I'm going to have Monsieur Savard-Tremblay and then Mr. Bezan speak.

If the members opposite allowed Ms. Idlout to take over one of their spots, would that be appropriate? We'll share some time, Ms. Idlout. I'll ask one of the members from the Liberal Party to share their time with you.

Monsieur Savard-Tremblay.

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

My next question is for you, Mr. Gaulin.

China dominates mainly the global market for nickel and cobalt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that its dominance is mainly related to these resources and that it relies in particular on its investments in Africa and Indonesia, so in the Indo-Pacific region.

Is Chinese dominance a problem for you from a competitive standpoint, because the standards are probably not the same as Canadian standards?

[Jeff Gaulin]

I think we indicated earlier that the market domination of China in its ability to both invest and oversupply the nickel market is a serious threat to the commodity price and, therefore, the competitiveness of Canada and Canadian nickel. At the same time, its investments around the world and its domination on the processing side mean that its market share is a direct competitor to Canadian nickel.

Yes, it's a significant competitive threat, not only for new opportunity, but for the mines and the refineries we have in the ground today.

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

Is recycling an opportunity for the Department of National Defence?

[Jeff Gaulin]

Yes, absolutely.

I think there are two things of value from waste. We're looking at expanding our circular opportunities. Again, we have 100 years of waste rock in Sudbury. When we have brought through international delegations, they've asked to buy it, because they see the value of the minerals there and the technology to extract more of them. They are interested not only in the quantity of existing nickel, copper and cobalt but potentially in other minerals as well. Our tailings are something that we can look at converting from a liability into an asset, because the technology exists. The challenge is whether we can do it at scale and at cost that a customer wants. We've often heard customers, particularly from Europe, say that they'd love to get that out of there but don't want to pay a premium for it. That's going to be the challenge.

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

I'll cede my remaining 30 seconds to Ms. Idlout if she wants to ask a question.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

I just wanted to comment that this is a very skewed dialogue about mining. I want to share a quote from an Inuk who has experienced the environmental assessment process in Nunavut.

Joan Scottie wrote a book about her experience with uranium and gold mining. In it, she writes:

Without a doubt, this co-management framework looks pretty good on paper. There appear to be many opportunities for community participation, and several checks and balances to protect the environment. However, my community’s experiences with gold and uranium mining show that our ability to influence these processes is actually very limited. Ultimately, this system leaves real power in the hands of the mining companies.

I'm very much hoping that in this study you also hear from indigenous peoples, from first nations, Métis and Inuit when you're talking about the impact of mining and what role it can have in national defence.

Qujannamiik.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you very much for your input.

Mr. Bezan, you now have five minutes, sir.

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

Thank you.

On the investment side, you guys are saying that it's hard to attract capital investment, and Vale just recently sold its large stake in the Thompson mine. Did that raise enough capital to go deeper? I read in the press release that it's mainly focused on the ex-mines in the brownfield that are there right now, including the tailings.

[Jeff Gaulin]

The $280 million of capital that we helped to raise from partners, and building a global partnership for that, is to extract more from what we have. If there are opportunities for the new owners to either go deeper or find new deposits, something they have wanted to explore.... The new CEO of the company has said that she wants to double production from that mine in the next five years, and the minerals are there to do that.

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

Is there any plan for reopening the smelter in Thompson?

[Jeff Gaulin]

That's something the new owners are looking at. There's no commitment at this point. I think it's about stabilizing operations and increasing production. We increased production at that mine by 22% last year. That's a great part of the effort to use the people who are there, the minerals that are there, and the infrastructure that's already there. There is at least another 75 to 100 years' worth of nickel there. The opportunity is there, and it's great to see some investment in Manitoba.

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

Most of that investment is based in the U.S. and Canada, or was it Australia?

[Jeff Gaulin]

There are four parties to the investment, three of which are Canadian: Exiro, Vale Base Metals, and Canada Growth Fund. We're grateful for that investment. We have brought in Orion Resource Partners, which is a New York-based private equity firm. We have looked at the Maple Eight and other public pension funds around Canada. It is hard to raise capital for Canadian mining projects, so we're grateful that we were able to put together $280 million for northern Manitoba.

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

If you look at other free markets, how do they vary in how they raise capital from the private sector?

[Jeff Gaulin]

Look at what the United States has done. The U.S. government put $400 million into MP Materials. That kind of got everybody's attention. The U.S. government and U.S. equity are definitely available and liquid for mining projects anywhere around the world. I think Canada is sending a signal that we're open for business. Raising Canadian-based capital would always be our first preference, but I think that any capital that can keep mining jobs in Canada and minerals flowing is a good thing.

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

Are you suggesting a state-owned...and that we're going to nationalize our mining sector?

[Jeff Gaulin]

Definitely not. The private sector works well.

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

You just want to be subsidized.

[Jeff Gaulin]

The opportunity exists for pension funds in Canada to invest their capital for a healthy return to make sure that jobs and minerals are flowing.

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

Have the pension funds bought into this? They need to protect their investors, first and foremost, who are the pensioners they're there to protect.

[Jeff Gaulin]

I wouldn't mandate that anybody has to put their money into it. I think if we offer a healthy rate of return and can de-risk that, then it becomes an attractive proposition. It is very challenging right now to raise capital for mining in Canada.