International Trade committee  I believe so—

International Trade committee  In Quebec, the strategy is well done, but I think the federal government and the provinces should work together as soon as possible.

International Trade committee  I'll give you an example. A few weeks ago, Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, decided to use iron phosphate in most of his vehicles. Even though iron phosphate technology was not invented by China, it has been using it since the 2010 Olympic Games. Iron phosphate is now considered critical for national security in China.

International Trade committee  I spent 36 years of my life working in the field of lithium-ion batteries. As I said earlier, I think that campuses are needed. Land needs to be provided or supplied on a turnkey basis. Support is needed for the rapid installation of plants, as the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are doing.

International Trade committee  My view is that the United States needs us. As I was just saying, we need to talk to the United States. I'm not ungrateful. For 27 years of my career, nearly all of my research projects were funded by the United States Department of Energy. The Americans are receptive, but we need to find the right government intermediaries who want to work with Canada.

International Trade committee  I believe, as I said, on the minerals, we should have hard negotiations, and this is very important because they depend a lot on our minerals, especially for EV vehicles. It can be for the motors, it can be for the batteries, it can be for bodies. Also, we need to be sure that we are taking them....

International Trade committee  With respect to iron phosphate, the priority is to have the safest battery. There has recently been talk about lots of safety recalls because of fire risks. We have this technology in Quebec and Canada. Phosphate production should quickly be channeled properly because it's not only used in batteries, but also food safety.

International Trade committee  I believe you are right. I think the basis of lithium-ion is the lithium. I think we already have lithium in Canada, so we can transform it here. Right now we can make lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, and I believe it is made and transformed here in Quebec or in Canada. I do not think there are any issues about CUSMA.

International Trade committee  Yes, I entirely agree. Canada confirms that it has the critical minerals, human capital, intelligence and technology. Earlier I mentioned iron phosphate, which is used today by Tesla and other companies around the world. That material originated in Quebec, in Canada. We've had the technology for 27 years.

International Trade committee  That's an important question. Now's the time. Most electric and “regular” car companies will go all in on the electrification of transportation within five years. It's the Kodak syndrome. Canada isn't lagging behind because it has an extensive ecosystem, but it has to seize this opportunity.

International Trade committee  Take the Quebec government, for example. Quebec has made a $10 billion five-year investment through an initiative. We need to bring investors and the manufacturing industry back to Canada. Government should also put up 50% of the financing, as the United States, China and other countries are doing.

International Trade committee  Earlier I talked about securing the green supply chain. In a way, Canada is the backbone of this effort because all the necessary minerals can be found here. However, those minerals have to be processed. We mustn't sell off our minerals cheaply; we need to do both primary and secondary processing.

International Trade committee  Thank you.

International Trade committee  I've finished.

International Trade committee  Mr. Chair, members of Parliament, good afternoon. My career in the field of electric vehicles and my connection with the United States date back 27 years to my time as senior battery researcher at Hydro-Québec's research institute. The U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, awarded me a number of research contracts to investigate battery materials.