Thank you, and good morning, Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Priscilla Tang, and I am senior vice-president of Terranova Aerospace. Allow me to introduce to you James Castle, president of Terranova Aerospace.
Thank you for conducting the study on assessing the impact of aircraft noise in the vicinity of major Canadian airports. Thank you for the opportunity to present to you our witness statement. You have asked us to speak to this topic and any relevant issues of importance.
Improving flight safety in Canada is of national importance. Improving flight safety, as it pertains to all aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems commonly known as drones, is of national and international importance. Canada is well positioned to lead in drone industry innovation, economic development and use for public safety.
Drones can be used to save lives. At Terranova Aerospace, we are driven by our purpose to save lives. Everything we do is in alignment with the mandates of Public Safety Canada and designed to strengthen the Canadian infrastructure for emergency management. The drones we use, called the Silent Falcon unmanned aircraft system, are fixed-wing aircraft that span four metres across and fly up to 20,000 feet. They can be used in emergency search and rescue to locate missing persons in weather or terrain conditions such as avalanches, natural disasters and forest fires, which are otherwise not safely accessible by human-piloted helicopters and civil aircraft.
In the United States, our unmanned aerial vehicles are currently being used to help the U.S. government in wild-land fire operations, search and rescue, emergency management, land management and wildlife management.
Drones can assist in the recovery of human remains. When integrated with infrared detection technology and artificial intelligence, drones could pinpoint the location of human remains in Canada's ocean war graves.
Drones are seeing unprecedented levels of global innovation and accessibility. Today, anyone can purchase a drone at their local electronics retailer or online, and suddenly our airspace has become accessible to the common citizen and not just to pilots.
We at Terranova Aerospace are currently developing a scalable data solution similar to that of Google Maps or Waze, which integrates artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data to chart the Canadian airspace for the common user. In the same way drivers can open up an app on their smart phone and get directions, traffic and safety information on reaching their destination, we plan to build the same publicly accessible capabilities for common users of our airspace.
Finally, drones make up an inevitable economic development opportunity for Canada. With the right regulations in place to ensure that all aircraft, unmanned or not, are tracked and operating safely, Canada could become a world leader in industry development and benefit from its economic prosperity.
Work with us, Terranova Aerospace, and we can be your partner in developing and maximizing the potential of this opportunity for Canada to lead in drones for public safety, innovation and economic prosperity.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for allowing us to present.