National Defence Committee on March 9th, 2026

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

It's important to note that some 50% of the world's mining companies are registered here in Canada, most of them in Ontario, where the TSX, the Toronto Stock Exchange, is located. That gives them access to all kinds of strategies and ways to optimize taxation and regulatory compliance. That's how it works. That's why we mentioned the conference of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, the mining sector's largest international conference, which is being held in Toronto for those reasons. Just because companies are registered here doesn't mean they will ultimately serve Canada's interests. This is where we need to clarify the situation and ensure that the Government of Canada is more transparent about its understanding of foreign entities and foreign states that are identified as part of strategic and critical supply chains. The government has not done that yet.

You mentioned a few things the Minister of Finance said in 2022 about how some companies linked to the Chinese government had to cease their activities. This kind of measure has not become more common in recent years. That's why the government has to be more transparent and consistent with its critical minerals strategy. Otherwise, it will look like this strategy is just designed to accelerate mining projects to create wealth for mining companies, with no real connection to Canada's supply chain defence strategy.

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

We know that, from the moment the government decided to increase the percentage of GDP spent on defence, one of the first things it did was play with the existing categories. I'm not criticizing that; I see it as legitimate. Before increasing actual funding, the government started by adjusting categories so existing spending would be considered defence spending. In many cases, that's legitimate. I'm not disputing that. For the Coast Guard, for example, there are situations where that is completely justified.

You're telling us that this is also the case for gold. Is gold being lumped in with critical mineral extraction?

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

The mining and gold lobbies are exerting a lot of pressure. Let's not forget that gold is number one in terms of the value of minerals extracted in Canada. It accounts for about 20% of mineral output. The gold lobby is very powerful. Besides gold and natural resources, we have to consider the impact of increased military spending on the environment and the climate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you very much, Mr. Savard‑Tremblay and Mr. Turgeon.

I am going now to the five-minute round.

Mr. Kibble, I'll go over to you.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all witnesses for their opening statements.

Ms. Mykytczuk, I appreciate your comment about how Canada's strategic vulnerability is our processing capability. What steps should we be putting in place to make processing more feasible, specifically in human resources and building a skilled workforce?

[Nadia Mykytczuk]

Historically, Canada had a lot of that mainstream capability. Many of the major operators did a lot of processing, optimization and piloting. For example, Sheridan Park Vale, now Vale Base Metals, used to have over 60 personnel looking at different process optimizations and training the next round of metallurgists and process engineers. We've lost a lot of that capacity. Another Canadian example, Sherritt Technologies, recently closed their operations, with over 60 experts in process design and metallurgy also being let go.

Now is not the time to be closing these facilities. We should be very quickly establishing regional centres of expertise—much like Mr. Boyd said—and building on operations that already exist where we can leverage some of that capacity.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

I want to quickly ask about waste and tailings.

There's a historical waste site on Vancouver Island, in my riding, with copper and possibly cobalt. You said something about efficient recovery. Can that be extracted and then left in a clean state when that process is over?

[Nadia Mykytczuk]

Absolutely. This is a huge opportunity for Canada with a very large inventory of legacy sites.

Consider that these are mineral resources already sitting at the surface. We have process knowledge to rapidly develop process flowsheets for these near-term materials. We could develop a lot of these tailing sites within five years, as opposed to a 15- or 20-year timeline for new mines. We should be looking to leverage the process knowledge within Canadian institutions to extract those reserves in the near term.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Boyd, I want to speak to timelines for project approvals. We heard about a Yellowknife project the other day that was taking 14 years to get approval. We have oil and gas offshore prohibitions, and large protected areas, many under the 30 by 30 plan. What steps could be taken by the government to speed up the approvals process in this area that's so critical to our national defence?

[Sean Boyd]

The challenge we face as an industry is the overlap of the approvals that are required and the sequential movement of files through the various regulatory approval bodies. Our approach would see the files go in and be reviewed simultaneously by many departments. That would help. I think we've seen moves in that direction going forward.

What was happening is that the federal overlays that came in at operations of over 5,000 tonnes a day or proposed operations of over 5,000 tonnes a day created a duplication. Essentially, we need to eliminate that duplication. Not only does it take time, but it costs money and uses up resources. I would start there.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Turgeon, you said in your testimony that it was important we know what foreign companies are operating in Canada. I see that MiningWatch Canada is a lobby group founded in 1999. Are you still a registered lobby group?

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

We are not.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

You are not a registered lobby group anymore. That's interesting.

With regard to foreign companies operating in Canada, who's the largest donor for your organization?

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

That's a good question. I would have to look at it. We can submit the information.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

I can share with you that it's the United States-based anti-development, anti-commercial agricultural group the 11th Hour Project, which is funded by the Schmidt family group. That's outside American influence that's paying for some of the awards today.

You were advocating closing the door on seabed mining. Does that include oil and gas?

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

We're talking about minerals.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

You're open to oil and gas, but you're advocating that we don't do mineral seabed mining.

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

That's not what I said. The topic of today's hearing is about hardrock mining, I believe, because we're talking about criticals, but we're definitely not supporting oil and gas activities overseas.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

On seabed mining in Canada, are you advocating for or against oil and gas mining in Canada?

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

As I said, we focus on hard rock mining and oppose seabed mining. However, we certainly support all measures aimed at protecting the climate from the oil industry.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Okay. That doesn't clarify it, but thank you.

Quickly, then, you also mentioned no use of nuclear power for defence-related projects. How would you contend that we power our defence-related projects, especially in the north? Would it be through carbon-based fuel or through windmills?

[Rodrigue Turgeon]

For 27 years now, our organization has strongly opposed only one mineral substance, and that's uranium, given the risks it poses to local populations in terms of tailings and accidents, on both the—

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Is it specific to uranium mining? You said nuclear power for defence projects—

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Mr. Kibble, we're over time on this one. My apologies.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you, Chair.