National Defence Committee on May 6th, 2026

[Heather Exner-Pirot]

I'll go quickly.

We're coming into the upswing of the commodity cycle. That means we're very close to scarcity. A lot of minerals now need to be replenished. We do not have enough in the pipeline. We have not had enough exploration. We have not had enough discoveries. Everything is going to get more expensive. That will be inflationary. That will tax defence industrial strategies and, generally, economic aspirations across the planet.

Canada is in a unique position. We can contribute to some of this not only for defence but also for economies. The faster we can build, the less pain the rest of the world will be feeling.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you, Mr. Kibble.

I have some housekeeping issues.

Ms. Romanado, you have one question, or maybe two, so we can make up some time.

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

Thank you.

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

Thank you, Chair.

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

I would be remiss not to mention that today is Memorial Day in the United States, honouring the brave men and women who serve their country. We have over 700 Canadians currently posted in the United States, and we work shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues and allies through NORAD in the defence of North America. I'll just a comment on that.

I'll start with Professor Leuprecht.

You asked, how does this help Canada to deter and how does this help Canada fight? We heard today about the urgency in a wartime footing and so on and so forth, but if we were to look at where Canadians were even two or three years ago, I don't think Canadians were prepared for Canada to invest 2% of GDP. That has changed, obviously, with geopolitical realities around the world. We need to take politics out of this, and I think all of the people at this committee are in agreement that we need to increase our defence spending. We need to make sure that the Canadian Armed Forces have the equipment they need.

How do we help Canadians understand the realities we are facing with that urgency you're mentioning? I know that Professor Huebert mentioned the same thing. I'll ask both of you this: How do we get Canadians where we need them to be so they can see that the urgency you're referring to is real and we need to move quickly?

[Christian Leuprecht]

It's a terrific question.

My pitch to you and to all of your colleagues here is that we need to change the narrative. Look at our colleagues in Norway. They're not exporting oil and gas. They're not investing in defence. What are they telling their people? What are they telling their colleagues in Europe? What are they telling the world? They're investing in stability, in prosperity and in reliability.

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

Professor Huebert, would you like to comment on that?

[Robert Huebert]

I'd like to. I think it's a great question.

One thing to start with is that we have the capabilities to do this. Remember that the Russian GDP from 2000 and 2002 was roughly the same as Canada's. Now, I'm not saying that we're going to make the same decisions as the Russians are. They have 22 northern bases. We, of course, just shut down Nanisivik.

What we need is direction from a bipartisan...from our political elites. When we hide from Canadians what our peace enforcers were doing in the Medak Pocket, the Canadian public has no way of appreciating that peacekeeping as we knew it had transformed itself. When we shared what Canadians were doing, and when casualties were inflicted in Afghanistan, look at the outpouring of support for Canadian Forces personnel. How political elites handled the Medak Pocket and those four casualties demonstrates that the Canadian public will respond. It needs leadership, but it will respond. There's no question in my mind.

Remember, Russia had the same GDP as ours and is now doing what they are doing. We're addressing these issues now.

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

Thank you so much.

I think that is the reality. That is the purpose of the Defence Investment Agency and the defence industrial strategy. It's to engage Canadian industry and workers to understand the real risks we're facing and to show how we're going to get where we need to go.

With that, I know the chair is going to look at me and ask me to wrap up. Thank you so much.

Professor Exner-Pirot, I'm looking forward to seeing that paper when it's published on June 4. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you, colleagues, for your rounds of questions.

Thank you to the witnesses as well for your informed discussions and presentations.

I have some housekeeping, folks, before we adjourn.

Is it agreed that the proposed budget in the amount of $32,400 for the study of the impact of the defence industrial strategy be adopted?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

A number of informal meetings have been brought to our attention. I believe there are two tomorrow. There have been some new requests.

Clerk, can you please advise the committee?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Jean-Denis Kusion]

We have received two new requests.

One is for Thursday morning, from 8:30 to 9:30, with a delegation of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

There's another one right after that, from 10:15 to 11:15. It would be a joint meeting, with the industry committee, with the head of the Bavarian State Chancellery.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Mr. Bezan.

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

CANSEC is on. A number of us already have commitments to be at CANSEC on Thursday morning.

Those ones are going to be next to impossible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

I understand, and I know there are a few happening tomorrow as well. There's a European one, and Estonia is coming as well.

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

I have to change my calendar to accommodate those.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

I'm not sure who around the table would be able to attend. I'll try to make it to my meetings—the ones tomorrow. I can try to make the 8:30 meeting, as well, on Ukraine.

Yes, Ms. Romanado.

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

On that note, as Mr. Bezan mentioned, with CANSEC happening right now, I don't know about all.... I assume we're all getting the same number of demands for our time.

I'm not sure what the plan is for Wednesday's meeting. Maybe we could talk about that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

I've informally discussed this with Mr. Bezan and you already. We have a number of witnesses already lined up for Wednesday. If it's the will of the committee, we can certainly postpone it, but I'm also sensitive to the limited time we have in this session.

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

I'm fine making it back in time for committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

You'll be back. Okay. Then our Wednesday meeting will proceed.

I know that the clerk has talked to all of you, and I think he's received the number of individuals who will be participating in our trip to NORAD and to the Northwest Territories.

I know a number of you are thinking about using the MOB to try to make those travels. Be sensitive about the travel arrangements with the clerk because there's limited space on the bus.

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

I'll be there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Let's confirm exactly who will be attending and what size bus we will need. Then, of course, the accommodations will have to be cleared ahead of time because there may be conflicts. I don't want anybody to be disappointed, so let's make sure we have that understood.

Yes, Mr. Bezan.

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

I'd like to move a very quick motion. I know we're short on time and have to vote, but it's a motion on committee business. I move:

That, in its study of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernization, the committee travel to 1 Canadian Air Division at 17 Wing in Winnipeg to look at NORAD Canadian-region operations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

We're not doing Winnipeg on this leg.