Welcome to meeting number 26 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence.
Before we begin, I want to give you a quick outline of some of the things that will be happening in the coming weeks.
As you know, on Wednesday, we will not have the PBO. In his absence, we'll try to do a threat analysis on the Iran conflict. I'll have more details in the coming hours and days with respect to that. It would be a very timely event for Wednesday.
There's also a Portuguese delegation. The naval commander and his individuals will be coming. They would like to have an informal meeting on Tuesday, March 24, at 10 a.m. The clerk is trying to organize some of the deliberations with regard to their engagement with NATO and Atlantic security.
On Wednesday, March 25, the Minister of National Defence will appear on the supplementary estimates (C), and Mr. Guzman will now appear on April 13 to make up for the fact that he wasn't here previously.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the committee is meeting to resume its consideration of the nexus between national defence, national security and the critical minerals sector.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person and remotely using the Zoom application.
Before we continue, I ask participants to consult the guidelines on the table. These measures are to help prevent audio and feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of our interpreters.
I'd like to remind witnesses and members to please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. If you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can.
For interpretation, use your earpiece and select the appropriate channel: floor, English or French. That's also available on Zoom. All comments should be addressed through the chair.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses. I'm going to start with you, Nadia, because I'm not going to do your name justice. I have a tendency to do that in this committee, and I apologize from the outset.
We have Nadia Mykytczuk, executive director of the Goodman School of Mines, Laurentian University; Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment, Macdonald-Laurier Institute; and Sean Boyd, chair of the board, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
Welcome to the three of you, and thank you for being available to us via the virtual system.
With us here live are Jim Balsillie, founder, Centre for International Governance Innovation; and Rodrigue Turgeon, national program colead, MiningWatch Canada.
I'm going to give all of you five minutes for your opening statements. That will take a good half an hour of our time. It we stick to that timeline, we'll get through them quickly. I know members would like to ask questions and have a dialogue and interaction with all of you.
Nadia, I will proceed with you first.