Science and Research Committee on May 28th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 88 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research.

We have some concerns about audio feedback. Before I begin, I'd like all members and other in-person participants to consult the cards on the table for guidelines to prevent audio feedback incidents. We have to protect the hearing of interpreters. Only use an approved black earpiece. When you're not using your earpiece, please put it on the sticker provided on your table.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Today's meeting is in a hybrid format.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name.

For members in the room, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your understanding in this regard.

As a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair.

Before we start with the opening speeches—

Go ahead, Monsieur Blanchette-Joncas.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Madam Chair, if you seek it, you will find that there is unanimous consent to change the deadline for the submission of briefs in the context of our most recent study of the distribution of funding among Canada’s postsecondary institutions.

It was supposed to be 5 p.m. on Friday, May 24, but there was a miscommunication and some members of the committee thought it was 5 p.m. on Monday, May 27. I therefore consulted my colleagues, and they gave me their support.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Do we have unanimous consent to allow those additional ones who were misinformed to submit documents that will be accepted?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

That's great. Thank you very much.

Now we'll move on to opening statements.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(i) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, the committee resumes its study of science and research in Canada's Arctic in relation to climate change.

It's now my pleasure to welcome to the committee, from the National Research Council of Canada, Anne Barker, director, Arctic and northern challenge program, and Dr. Shannon Quinn, secretary-general.

From the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, we have Dr. Ted Hewitt, president, and Dr. Sylvie Lamoureux, vice-president, research.

You have up to five minutes for your opening remarks, after which we will proceed with rounds of questions.

Ms. Barker, I invite you to make an opening statement of up to five minutes.

[Dr. Shannon Quinn, Secretary General, National Research Council of Canada]

Madam Chair, thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the National Research Council of Canada, or NRC, as part of this committee’s study on science and research in Canada’s Arctic in relation to climate change.

We would like to begin by acknowledging that the research activities of the National Research Council take place on the traditional unceded territories of many first nations, Inuit and Métis people. Today we are appearing here in Ottawa on unceded Algonquin Anishinabe territory.

We are inspired by the relationship that the Algonquin Anishinabe have with water, which is critically impacted by climate change. We look to the water as a means of understanding climate change, as its changes in state inform us in that regard.

We recognize our privilege to be able to conduct research and drive innovation on these lands. That is why we want to pay respect to Canada’s indigenous peoples.

My name is Shannon Quinn. I'm the secretary-general of the National Research Council. In this capacity, I am responsible for advancing the Government of Canada's science, research and innovation agenda.

I'll tell you a few things about the NRC as a whole.

The NRC is one of the largest federal research organizations. It advances scientific and technical knowledge, supports business innovation and provides science-based policy solutions. The NRC’s work is undertaken at facilities nationwide, and collaborations occur at other locations across Canada.

The NRC’s scientists, engineers and business experts partner with a broad range of organizations, including governments, universities, colleges and Canadian industry. That way, scientific and technical achievements are not just confined to a lab; they find an application on the market.

The NRC's current strategic priorities, as reflected in our recently released strategic plan, are to advance research and innovation for the benefit of Canada. These areas —importantly, for the purposes of this committee—include climate change and sustainability, health and biomanufacturing, digital and quantum technologies and foundational research, primarily in the areas of astronomy and metrology.

I now turn to my colleague Dr. Anne Barker, director of the Arctic and northern challenge program, who will use the remainder of our opening remarks to speak specifically about Arctic research.

[Anne Barker, Director, Arctic and Northern Challenge Program, National Research Council of Canada]

Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

The creation of the NRC's Arctic and northern challenge program stemmed from a ministerial direction in 2018 to create a research program on the north.

Through extensive northern engagement, this program has been aligned with the needs of northerners—and endorsed by them—throughout its design, launch and delivery.

Now in year three, the program's vision, guided by northerners, is that the daily lives of Arctic and northern peoples are improved through applied technology and innovation.

Its objectives are that Arctic and northern peoples participate in the design, governance, delivery and dissemination of applied research to address challenges identified by them; and that northern research and development capacity is built and increased to solve pressing issues confronting northerners.

The NRC is investing over $22 million over seven years in its Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program, as part of the Challenge Program. NRC researchers and research facilities will therefore be able to partner with northern territorial and indigenous governments, research institutions and industry. These projects will enable a sustainable economy and support a healthy future for Arctic and northern peoples within thematic research areas of housing, health, food and water.

We recognize that having more diverse teams leads to better research results, with complementary competencies coming together for added value in research. NRC recognized early on that funding alone was not sufficient to enable these research partnerships. Rather, we needed to also consider broad eligibility instead of a narrow definition of who can conduct research; changes to support northerners' participation in research development; flexibility in funding approaches; and adapting to the realities of undertaking research in the north, such as high travel costs, the need for honoraria for elders, translation and Wi-Fi costs, data storage capabilities, and development of local training opportunities.

In addition, in alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action 57—

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I'm sorry. That's our time, Ms. Barker. You can bring forward some of those remarks in further testimony.

Dr. Hewitt, I now invite you to make an opening statement of five minutes.

[Ted Hewitt, President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council]

Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee, Madam Chair, as president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council—or SSHRC, as we call it—and as chair of the steering committee for the tri-agency institutional programs secretariat, both of which work closely with the other federal research funding agencies on various Arctic-related research initiatives.

As you know, communities across northern Canada, many of which are indigenous, are among the most vulnerable to climate change. They are witnessing first-hand the devastating impacts a changing climate is having across Arctic ecosystems, livelihoods, health, indigenous culture and a traditional way of life that goes back several generations.

This reality reinforces the importance of research, including interdisciplinary work, to address the complex challenges faced in the Arctic. It also underscores the necessity for indigenous-led research to respond to locally defined research priorities.

SSHRC's current Arctic research initiatives build on the success of our past investments, such as those in ArcticNet and Sentinel North. These projects bring together scientists from various disciplines, with partners from northern communities, government agencies and the private sector, as well as international partners, to study the impacts of climate change in the Canadian north.

Through the tri-agency new frontiers in research fund, we are also aligned with the Scandinavian research councils' collective NordForsk's international research initiative on sustainable development of the Arctic to further promote large-scale interdisciplinary and collaborative research in the region. This international partnership includes Canada, the United States and several Nordic European countries.

Furthermore, through the New Frontiers and Research Fund, SSHRC will administer $20 million over four years to create new knowledge for sustainable development in the Arctic. It will expand our understanding of how best to address complex climate change impacting Canada’s north.

As a condition of joining the program, SSHRC stipulated that indigenous communities must be invited to participate in the design, development and leadership of any project deemed eligible for funding.

SSHRC also supports Arctic-related research through its core funding on such topics as climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy and resources, sustainable development, geopolitics, food security and many other areas. Between 2018 and mid-2023, SSHRC awarded over $67 million in funding to support northern research, including on Arctic-related topics. These grants are administered at post-secondary research institutions across Canada, but notably at Yukon University, Nunavut Arctic College and Aurora College in the Northwest Territories.

As I mentioned, SSHRC understands that indigenous rights to self-determination, as they relate Arctic research, include leadership of, and governance over, research conducted in their communities. This commitment is reinforced through the Strengthening Indigenous Research Capacity initiative, a priority of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee. It affirms indigenous knowledge systems, approaches to learning and means of sharing knowledge.

We developed a new category of funding eligibility for indigenous not-for-profit organizations as part of our response to Call to Action 65 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

There are currently 18 eligible indigenous institutions in this category. These include the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation in the Northwest Territories and the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre in Nunavut.

Madam Chair, we're determined that northern researchers and communities, and the institutions that serve them, will play a central role in Arctic research, given the direct impacts climate change has on them.

I would be pleased to provide further insights into our Arctic-related research activities during the question and answer period.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Thank you, Dr. Hewitt. We look forward to your testimony.

We'll now begin our first round of questions from the floor. Please be sure to indicate to whom your questions are directed.

We'll start with MP Lobb for six minutes.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I wanted to ask Ms. Quinn or Ms. Barker a question.

I was just looking at one grant that was received from Queen's University. You don't have to talk specifically about that one, but how do these work, generally?

Polar Knowledge Canada is the organization. The program name is the northern science and technology program. The location is Kingston, Ontario. That grant is $450,000 for three years.

How does that work? You don't have to speak specifically about the one I just mentioned, but do the researchers do the research from Kingston? Do they work with the POLAR group? How does that work? How do the mechanics of all this work?

[Anne Barker]

I can take that question. I can't speak to Polar Knowledge Canada's funding, but for the program—

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

It's funded through the Government of Canada, though. It's a grant through the Government of Canada.

[Anne Barker]

Yes. However, grants and contributions have many different types of terms and conditions.

Within the National Research Council and our Arctic and northern challenge program, the direction really comes from northerners. You could have an organization, like Queen's or another university, that may be the project lead. Generally, that is often due to capacity limitations in the north, so a northern organization may choose to have a university partner, for example, within our programs that helps administer the research, moves the funds and advances the research.

In other cases, it could be a northern-led organization. We have a number of projects, for example, with the NNC, the Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation, which is a Nunavut renewable energy company in the north. It is the lead applicant, but it has partnered with a southern-based university to support it in its research.

It's really on a case-by-case basis, depending on the capabilities, competencies and capacity.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

For the granting councils, how many dollars per year are allocated to the Arctic?

[Anne Barker]

I can't comment on that. We're not a granting council in that respect. NRC's grants and contributions are there to enable NRC researchers in our facilities to come together with northerners in this particular program to advance research. We also have our industrial research assistance program, which provides funds for small and medium-sized enterprises.

I think maybe you can clarify if you're looking for the tri-councils in terms of funding, in which case I would need to defer to colleagues.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I just have one other question, and anybody can grab it.

We've heard from a lot of people who have talked about the coordination of efforts in the Arctic, and I think that's a fair question, a fair request.

If you go through the dollars that have been allocated up there, there are a lot of dollars spent studying caribou, which is important, and there are a lot of dollars spent in different regions studying shorelines, water and ice, and not just in one spot; obviously, it's a massive area. How's all that coordinated? How do you prevent duplication? How do we do that?

Is there one person you can go to, one place, and they say, yes, we have it? Is there a machine behind the scenes that's making all this work?

[Anne Barker]

I'd say at this point that we do not have that level of coordination, in my opinion. Our funds tend to help with some of that coordination, so we tend to be coordinated around funding sources.

However, there are networks of excellence that we've had in the past that help with some of that coordination to see who is doing what research. Across the north, all of our northern regions have research licensing approaches, and to perform research in these regions, you need to obtain a research licence. That also assists with coordination, because those who are seeing the research that's happening in their regions are being informed ahead of time about what may be coming and have the opportunity to comment.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Do I have any time left, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Yes, you have a minute and a half.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you.

I know there are definitely limited relations at this point in time with Russia, which is a key contributor to all the pollution that takes place up there. In spite of that, is there contact with Russian Arctic researchers at all, or is there no relationship? Does anybody know of the research that they're doing up there? Is there coordination with them or with anybody else, or is that completely off the table?

[Anne Barker]

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the National Research Council has not had any coordinated research with Russia. That has been stopped at this point.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Hewitt, do you have anything you want to add on all the questions that have been asked there?

[Ted Hewitt]

Yes. One thing that we would encourage as funders is the development of research programs, ideas and projects locally in the north. That may give an appearance of a lack of coordination, but we tend to emphasize very strongly that those projects be developed there and be undertaken there and led by communities in the north or institutions in the north, sometimes with the support of other institutions from southern Canada. That's increasingly the direction we're moving in.

We're also engaged in coordinated international efforts like our climate change mitigation call, with eight other countries and funding agencies and the NordForsk initiative, which is basically Canada and the U.S., I believe, and the Scandinavian countries. That would be a more coordinated approach internationally.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Thank you. That's the time. You're bang on.

We'll turn to MP Jaczek for six minutes.