Evidence of meeting #37 for Science and Research in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was workers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
You keep going back to the rockets themselves, and I keep referencing the project and the $200-million—
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
—taxpayer investment.
My goal here is to get on record that you're not engaged with the actual infrastructure.
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Okay. Thank you.
The $200 million that taxpayers have been asked to spend to build it and the fact that is has not been built have nothing to do with your agency.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
With that, we will go to MP Noormohamed for five minutes.
Please go ahead, MP Noormohamed.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you very much.
Maybe I can begin with Ms. Campbell.
The conversations that have been going on today range from how you select astronauts, all the way through to some of the more relevant questions that people might want answered. I'm curious. When you see a group of parliamentarians like this, what are some of the things that we should be focusing on, in terms of the conversation that we should be having in respect of where the Canadian Space Agency—
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
I'm sorry, Madam Chair. Mr. Ho appears to think that interrupting is the best way to conduct himself.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
There is one speaker at a time. The floor is with MP Noormohamed. It is his time.
MP Noormohamed, please go ahead.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
I have a point of order.
I think the member should take his own advice on that.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you.
Instead of waging DEI battles, let's actually have a conversation about what matters.
One of the things that I think Canadians would be interested in knowing, when you think about the future of the space program for this country—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll stop your clock.
To all members, when a person has the floor, please allow them to ask their questions and get answers. You can speak when you have the floor. Thank you.
Go ahead, MP Noormohamed.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
I'm going to get my time back, though. Is that right, Madam Chair?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you.
Again, the opposition would like to wage DEI battles.
I'd be curious to talk to you about the future of the space program in this country, and I think Canadians would like to know. Obviously, the Prime Minister has laid out a fairly ambitious agenda for where he would like Canada to be going. There's a defence industrial strategy now in place. The reality is that there are a variety of different factors that now come into play.
What is the one thing that you would like parliamentarians to be focusing on as we think about the future of the Canadian Space Agency?
In particular, what should we be thinking about with respect to space and Canada's role in space programming and true engagement in terms of how we think about growth and how we think about exploration?
President, Canadian Space Agency
Thank you, and thank you all for the time today. We are grateful to be here and to be able to share with you a little bit about what we do.
Canada's space program is extraordinary. We are one of the original spacefaring nations, and now we're one of more than 90 that are involved in space. It's much more competitive, but we remain one of the original spacefaring nations that can provide capabilities that are operated in space.
It also provides tremendous potential for our country. Space saves lives, and it saves money. With the perspective of space, you can do things here on earth that would take you much more time and resources to do, like manage agriculture, biodiversity, disaster management and Arctic infrastructure. Space has solutions for those. It also has a return on investment that's extraordinary. I mentioned some of the statistics earlier. For each dollar we invest in Canadian companies, it creates high-quality jobs—28,000 at the moment. I think it's probably even broader than that. The space sector has been incredibly resilient through the pandemic, growing at a rate of 15%, as I mentioned.
I hope that after our discussion today, you'll see the potential of Canada's space program. It's very strong. It really does help us in what we're trying to do as a nation. We're also sought after as a partner on the world stage. We're very reliable. We will stay with our international partners, help them work through problems and, ultimately, achieve success together. That's why we keep getting asked to do these incredible space missions.
We also have a rich science ecosystem. Mention was made of astronomy missions. There is so much more that we could do together, and it could accomplish multiple goals. Space technology is dual-use. There is a way to invest in this, and also to bring back benefits here on Earth.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you.
Madam Chair, how much time do I have left?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
I did have a number of other questions I wanted to ask you, but regrettably I actually have to move a motion, so I'm now going to do that. I want to thank you for the insightful response to that question.
I want to move a motion that was put on notice earlier, and the motion reads:
That, notwithstanding the motion adopted on February 12, 2026 on the disclosure of documents related to the AI Strategy, and given that the estimate provided by ISED Officials for the cost of production of these materials ranges from $1,192,493.59 to $1,327,208.59, and given that all AI Strategy Task Force reports and more than 11,000 submissions from the public have been proactively disclosed, the committee rescind the order for the production of documents adopted on February 12, 2026.
I need to move that motion now, obviously, and recognize that all the materials that were requested in that study are now available, and they're available online to anybody who wants them. It renders the direction of the committee moot, so I would put that on the floor now.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
We have a motion by MP Noormohamed on the floor.
MP Baldinelli is next.
Conservative
Tony Baldinelli Conservative Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Madam Chair, before we vote on this, I want to express my disappointment that the minister's office, and particularly the department, continually indicated that they would not provide a cost breakdown of the estimate they provided this committee.
How can we as parliamentarians vote to rescind the motion when we have no idea what the true costs are? I repeatedly asked for the cost breakdown and they—the minister's office and departmental officials—have repeatedly refused to provide that.
Sadly, I believe this is an affront to every parliamentarian who sits here. I asked that this information be shared with all members by way of you, Chair. Again, they refused. It leads to the question, what are they trying to hide? I was just asking for a cost breakdown of the dollar figure that my colleague provided.
Ultimately, we're going to vote on this, and the Liberals have the numbers and we'll vote to rescind.
Again, I think it's an insult to every parliamentarian here. I simply had a question on what the cost breakdown was for that money being spent. I don't want to spend an exorbitant amount of dollars on materials if we don't have to, but again, I think what's more insulting is the simple fact that they would not even provide a breakdown of what those costs entailed. Unfortunately, we will be voting against this.