National Defence Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2026

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke, ON]

If the PRC were to stake a claim in international waters over any natural resource deposit they found in our Arctic, how would you suggest our government counter that?

[Hudson Lester]

I would have to rely on somebody else on the panel for international water expertise.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Why don't you guys give it some thought? We'll get back to Ms. Gallant on this one in a moment.

For now, we have Ms. Romanado for five minutes.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here today.

I'll start with Mr. Gaulin.

You testified before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources on October 27, 2025. I'm going to read some of your opening statement, because I think it's very relevant today, and I would love for you to elaborate. You said this:

...position Canada as a supplier of choice for NATO. Canada should aggressively pursue NATO defence and adjacent infrastructure spending in exchange for preferential, long-term...access to critical minerals at a premium. Canada has applied to join the security action for Europe program, SAFE, which is basically the EU's defence procurement club. If accepted, Canada will join the U.K. as the only non-EU members of the club and will be the club's leading critical minerals producer.

As you know, we've just signed the SAFE agreement with Europe. We are the only non-European country to do so. Could you elaborate on what this means for Canada, how this will help us to diversify our exports in terms of critical minerals and the important role Canada can play in this regard?

[Jeff Gaulin]

I'm glad my remarks were prescient.

One of the three long-term policy recommendations I was going to make to this committee was the requirement for Canadian critical mineral content in procurement clubs such as that. I think we've seen some first steps of that through the G7 critical minerals production alliance. We're seeing an inflow of capital and an offtake agreement. That helps to both provide a demand signal and make the financing immediately available.

Whether it's through ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 or the SAFE, as you alluded to, Canada is well positioned with the wealth of minerals that it already has—10 of 12. I think the opportunity there, as alluded to in the national defence industrial strategy, is to seek some reciprocity in that. If we're buying your equipment, then part of your equipment should have some Canadian minerals.

Let me put it into perspective by quantifying it. For example, a German submarine—a Thyssenkrupp 212CD—has 30 to 40 tonnes of nickel just in its structure, and dozens more in its plating, piping and electrical systems. If you do that times 12, then there's a great demand signal and a great reciprocity in the purchase agreement. Looking at something really big, a polar class 2 icebreaker uses between 400 and 500 tonnes of nickel. That's about 10 times the size of a submarine.

For things like Canadian nickel in particular, and other Canadian critical minerals, there is a tremendous opportunity for us to manufacture and/or to partner and procure equipment that is based on Canadian critical minerals.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Earlier you mentioned that there is an abundance of nickel around the world, if I understood correctly. If we were to partner with our NATO allies with respect to some of these procurement projects, this is a way to create a new demand for our nickel. Is that correct?

[Jeff Gaulin]

Absolutely. Canadian nickel is threatened worldwide by the oversupply from some jurisdictions around the world. One country in particular dominates, with in excess of 60% of worldwide production. The opportunity to create a procurement club that sustains and in fact enhances or grows the production of Canadian nickel—which is a job creator and where we have a competitive advantage relative to other jurisdictions, like the PRC—can absolutely be both an economic and a defence advantage.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

That's fantastic.

My next question is for Mr. Gullo.

You talked a little bit about labour disruptions and some of the challenges there. Could you elaborate on whether we have enough supports for colleges and universities in terms of generating the pool of talent that we are going to need going forward in terms of the demand that we're going to have for increasing capacity in the mining sector? Are we enticing enough young people to consider a job in this field? Are we producing enough engineers and researchers in this regard? How can BOREALIS assist in this regard?

[Michael Gullo]

There are two parts to that. I know that my colleague, Photinie, will have more in-depth data on the mining sector's labour pool, and Jeff will have specific comments relative to his company, too.

My understanding is that there is a deficit. There are hardships in terms of attracting the right talent. There are a lot of retirees and a need to scale up, in particular when you align where we want to go with harvesting and producing more, and exporting more to our allies.

I know Photinie, Jeff and Hudson may have some other details to share.

On the innovation side, in terms of BOREALIS, I have not really looked at that yet as a labour tool or a skill tool. Certainly there would be a lot of attraction once it has been stood up and there's a better understanding of how it's going to operate for drawing top talent into Canada and to our research institutions, which will partner with BOREALIS and become integral to its success. I can see it being a real magnet and a really important part of Canada's innovation policy.

As the details come out, maybe we can come back and have a different conversation about specific areas.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

I'm out of time, so if your colleagues want to submit in writing any feedback they have on that question, I'd welcome it.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Monsieur Savard-Tremblay, you have up to two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you.

Ms. Koutsavlis, I'm going to continue the discussion I had earlier with Mr. Gullo.

I know that a few years ago, after the realization, a bit late in my view, that China was a worrying power in many respects, the government was quite assertive in wanting to get China out of the mining industry.

Do you have any feedback on that? Do you feel in any way that it's still there through the back door? Has it found a way to maintain its position through all kinds of subterfuge?

[Photinie Koutsavlis]

That's a very difficult question for me to answer. I think that question would be better directed to the national security establishment and other agencies within the Government of Canada. I'm not able to answer that question for you.

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

I was asking you to respond based on what you or your members were observing.

In a study we conducted two or three years ago in another committee I sit on, the Standing Committee on International Trade, one of the conclusions was that it was very easy for a foreign mining association to register as a Canadian association, and that the rules were much too lax given the various speculative and tax advantages offered on the Toronto Stock Exchange, in particular. Also, it came out that Canada is a kind of flag of convenience.

To my knowledge, the rules have not been tightened since then. Have you also realized that?

[Photinie Koutsavlis]

Again, I'm not able to answer that question for you.

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

I understand that you can't answer it now, but would you eventually be able to do so?

[Photinie Koutsavlis]

If you have a precise question that you would like to have us respond to from the Mining Association of Canada's perspective, I'd be happy to reflect on that and get back to you.

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

Do you think the rules for registering as a Canadian mining company are too weak or lax?

[Photinie Koutsavlis]

That's not something within my purview that I'm able to answer for you today.

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

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

You have 30 seconds.

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

Mr. Gullo, can you give me your opinion on the subject in 30 seconds?

[Michael Gullo]

Not in precise terms.... I would not be able to give you the right level of detail for the study you're conducting and the particular question that you want an answer for. It would be something that I would have to follow up on.

We have to be mindful of the fact that our stock exchanges compete with world-class stock exchanges, and we have robust systems in place. These are some of the most competitive in the world, and the presence of Canadian mining companies within both of our major listings in the TSX and TSXV is substantive. That should be, in my view, looked at from a position of strength rather than weakness.

I think your question is about fine-tuning and identifying risks, and I think it's very valid. It's something that maybe we could help you explore down the road.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Mr. Bezan, you have up to five minutes.

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

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being with us today and helping us with this study.

We've been hearing a lot about competitiveness and how we're falling behind. You guys did mention some of the problems. Let's talk about the government regulations and the government taxation, which are out of sync with what other jurisdictions are doing around the world. Can you talk about the impact of things like the industrial carbon tax and net zero and about how those are impacting mining and refining in Canada versus in other areas like the United States or Europe?

That question is open to all panellists.