Natural Resources Committee on April 23rd, 2026

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Well, can you talk about how this goes against buy Canadian when you buy American?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

We're conflating nuclear strategy and labs.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

No, you're confusing it—

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Let's talk about the management of the labs. That is done by AECL. They decide, as an independent Crown, what is the most cost-effective way—

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

We went through this, sir. The board that made the decision was 100% appointed by Liberals, so it is the Liberal government that is—

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

It's a Crown corporation, where their fiduciary duty is to act independently. They ran a process. They—

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Square how buy Canadian is supposed to work, then. If they're all independent, are they not following your buy Canadian policy?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

The way it works is that when you go out for tender—I've done this many, many times—you get a series of tenders in. You evaluate those tenders against the criteria. You go back with another set of questions and demands in your negotiation.

Some people fall away. You keep negotiating. Again, people fall away. At the end, there is one entity left, and—

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I have limited time, sir.

On the processes, then, if you want to talk about how they excluded Canadian—

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

There were no Canadians excluded.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

We have learned that CNL—

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

There were no Canadians excluded.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

The VP from CNL informed the committee that one of the requirements for a successful bid for the GOCO was experience, which meant a winning bid had to come from outside of Canada.

You rigged the bidding process so that non-Canadian companies would receive this.

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

The premise of your question is fundamentally wrong.

The ownership of the assets remains with Canada. The people who are managing it—99% of them—are in Canada and are Canadian.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

It's 100% owned by the Americans. That's the concern I have.

Another important part, though, is—

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Are you—

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

No. This is my time. I have only five minutes of an hour that was promised to me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

You actually have only 15 seconds.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I'll close with this, then.

You've been briefed a whole bunch on nuclear, obviously. You're very knowledgeable, sir. Is it easier to build a new heavy-water plant or build a domestic enrichment capacity for uranium in Canada?

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Give a brief answer, Minister.

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Is it easier to build one versus...? I'm not sure in what context.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

We're going to need more heavy water in the future. We're also going to need enriched uranium. Both come from outside of Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you both—

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

That you as the minister are not aware of which one we're going to build first, which one will be tougher or which one will cost more money is concerning for most people in nuclear.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

We can come back to that—