Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Ms. Doran.
It will come as no surprise that I, as the MP for Sudbury, will be asking questions about the role of critical minerals and their mining in a clean energy future. We know that energy technologies, such as renewable energy generation, require significant quantities of critical minerals.
The Inflation Reduction Act contains several clean energy tax incentives and funding. There are many, and it would seem that critical minerals are key to at least two incentives in that act. One is the advanced manufacturing production credit for equipment, including solar modules, wind energy components and battery cells. The other one is the clean electricity production credit, which pays producers for non-emitting electricity for each kilowatt hour they generate.
The U.S. will need Canada's critical minerals—we know that—for programs like the two I just mentioned. However, if we send all our mined minerals to the U.S. for processing, we're going to miss out on a massive economic opportunity for Canada, and I believe you mentioned that in your opening statement when you talked about focusing on the upstream side.
How can we leverage our natural resources in supporting the IRA while creating refining and supply chain systems for the EV batteries right here at home?