Industry committee  I explained the role of the Canadian Space Agency in this deal earlier. It is the same as it is in any other deal. I would remind you that this is not the first time that property transfers have taken place in the 20 years that we have been in existence. Indeed, when RADARSAT-2 was being built, MDA itself was owned by an American company.

Industry committee  No, I've not commented on sovereignty. What I've said is that the nature of the resulting entity will matter in terms of how we can engage it in terms of meeting the needs of Canada in the future.

Industry committee  No, I am not, and as you pointed out in the introduction to your question, the RSSSA is the responsibility of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and I'm afraid that question probably should be addressed to him.

Industry committee  Again, the responsibility of the Canadian Space Agency is to ensure that the terms of the contract we've entered into with MDA would be respected, regardless of what the outcome of these deliberations would be and the decision of the government. So with regard to the effect of ITAR on the Canadian space industry generally or what the effects of RSSSA licensing are, those are questions that are not within the purview of the president.

Industry committee  We, like you, have read reports to the effect that ITAR does create a complication for Canadian firms to enter into the U.S. market, but this is not a space-specific comment. As we know, it affects a number of other segments of the Canadian industry.

Industry committee  I think that's an interesting policy question that you might want to address to the government or to a representative of the minister, but the president of the Canadian Space Agency, unfortunately, is not in a position to answer that.

Industry committee  The Canadian space sector, as I indicated, includes a number of firms, 200 firms roughly, who do various parts of the business. MDA—and I know you'll have people from MDA testifying after I do—occupies a particular niche inside that constellation of companies, where they have the capacity, and they've demonstrated it in the past, to handle major, large-scale satellites.

Industry committee  There is no other company in Canada that currently is in that particular area of business.

Industry committee  Well, I think, first of all, it should be underlined that we are talking about a transaction that has essentially yet to occur and for which we don't know the final results in terms of the location of the activity, etc. The Canadian Space Agency, and the Canadian government through the Canadian Space Agency, requires a certain capacity in order to be able to deliver on the mandates in space.

Industry committee  Mr. Chairman, firstly I would like to thank you and the members of the Committee for the opportunity to address you today. As you said, I am joined here this morning by Luc Brûlé, Director of Earth Observation projects at the Canadian Space Agency, who is also the Program Manager for RADARSAT-2, and by Mr.