Evidence of meeting #35 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was drones.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:40 a.m.
Liberal
Gagan Sikand Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Thanks for being here.
Thanks, Tony, for mentioning that article with the defibrillator. I tweeted about that last week. I think it's great that first responders can get something that flies as the crow flies, especially in rural areas. I'll get back to that if I have time. I am splitting my time with my colleague.
Kerry, if we were to have a course, would that be in partnership with the government?
10:40 a.m.
Vice-President, Business Development, Fresh Air Educators
Ideally it would be.
We've seen the curriculum that's been laid out. There's a draft of it. In the analogy to the pleasure craft operator card program, there's a set of standards that need to be covered.
10:40 a.m.
Liberal
Gagan Sikand Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
It's in partnership with the government.
I had Amazon's largest distribution centre in my riding until they opened one up down the street. It's in another riding now. I know their pilots were coming to Canada to be trained to go back to the States.
If you come to Canada and get this certificate, are you allowed to operate in the United States?
10:40 a.m.
Vice-President, Business Development, Fresh Air Educators
That was because at the time you couldn't operate. They couldn't even get the training done in the United States. Eighteen months ago, you couldn't legally operate a drone commercially in the United States.
10:40 a.m.
Vice-President, Business Development, Fresh Air Educators
Now they can. I have to say that because of that limitation, it's not that it wasn't happening, it's just that it wasn't legal.
10:40 a.m.
Liberal
Gagan Sikand Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Okay.
What I'm getting at is that America is a huge marketplace. I want somebody in Texas to be able to go online in partnership with Canada, pay a fee, get a licence, and operate a drone down there. I want us to make money off of this, U.S. money, as well.
Is there a way we can get that reciprocity that you were talking about, so that we're harmonized and so that what I just mentioned becomes a possibility?
10:40 a.m.
Vice-President, Business Development, Fresh Air Educators
We would do our very best to help you get that reciprocity, but obviously, we couldn't determine that. We understand very well what the requirements are, and we would like to help Transport ensure that there is reciprocity, for sure.
10:40 a.m.
Liberal
Gagan Sikand Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
I can drive in the United States. I see this as the same thing. It's a licence. The technology is the same. The operation is the same. I think we can benefit.
I'd like to split my time.
10:40 a.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
My question goes to the people from Drone Delivery Canada.
If I am correct, you want regulations that would allow you to make deliveries with drones. It may be pizza delivery, medication, even bigger things, as you mentioned just now.
How do you foresee making deliveries by drone safely, given that it will not be possible for the pilot to be constantly within sight of their drones, as is currently required?
I have a second question. In your view, who will be held responsible if, during a delivery, there is an accident involving a drone and a person, a car, a truck or anything else? How will liability be determined?
10:45 a.m.
Chief Technology Officer, Drone Delivery Canada
To see what we envision and what we are practising, imagine a railway in the sky. Our UAVs would follow a predetermined path. These aren't similar to the UAVs behind us that you can take up with a joystick and fly wherever you want. Our UAVs would operate on a predetermined route. They would be vetted by the regulatory body, Transport Canada. They would operate at a specific altitude and speed, and in certain weather conditions. Once things are exceeded, they wouldn't fly. That is how we envision this operating.
To start, it would be in a very controlled environment. The UAVs would take off from what we call a drone spot, which is a predetermined parking spot location where it's a controlled environment, so humans can't walk into it when the UAV is starting up. It would also land at a controlled location.
For us, as my colleague Tony mentioned, it's crawling. We're not going to have UAVs landing on your doorstep tomorrow, because there's a lot still to learn. There is a lot of safety, a lot of regulations, and there are a lot of processes that we still all need to learn.
10:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
I hate to cut you off, but to my colleagues, it's come to the end of our meeting time. The room is available, so for the committee members who have a few extra minutes, the equipment is set up, and you can ask some more questions, if you would like.
Thank you very much for this valuable information.
At this point now, I must adjourn this meeting.