Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is an honour to be here today, along with several of my colleagues from the Canadian aerospace industry. My presentation will be mainly in English, but at a later date you will be provided with French and English versions of it. Of course, I will answer

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  There are a couple more points I'd like to make in reply to the question. First, there is wide consensus that we must identify and support the needs of our military. That's first and foremost. However, at the same time, we want to maximize the benefits of these investments to th

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  The short answer is no. We need to understand that the aerospace industry is a solid one. You heard this morning that a number of companies are investing in the future. For example, we talked about a program that will produce concrete results in 2013. No doubt, the industry is go

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Thank you. I am going to start with the second question. Obviously, we are extremely pleased to finally see the creation of the aerospace caucus. I think that this is an excellent initiative. It shows that this is a pan-Canadian industry. Its members come from across the country.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  True. The message is clear. I think that my colleagues will be delighted to work with the caucus and answer any requests that the chair and its members want to put to us. With regard to the military equipment purchase program, I have already commented on that subject. I think t

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  You've described, of course, winning conditions, and those are important to the success of an industry. The only point I would add to the comments that have been made with regard to the rest of the world and its impact on what happens in Canada is that we also have a very strong

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Thank you. It's not easy to answer in the amount of time given, but let me just make a few points. First of all, to be successful the industry needs to have stable, predictable, comprehensive support from our governments. The industry needs to have stable, predictable, comprehe

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Currently, the consequences are not as harsh because there is a certain amount of tolerance. I think too that the federal government has managed to negotiate an exemption for its employees who have what is called a security clearance. These employees can work on some ITAR project

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Mr. Chair, perhaps I could just add a word. Actually, the government, about a year and a half to two years ago, announced the creation of a new program called the business network centres of excellence, based on the networks of excellence that existed for universities before. T

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Mr. Chair, if I could, I'll add on this, because there was a question that I answered with regard to military procurement. Quite clearly we do not favour protectionism. That's not the issue. The issue is that if government is going to spend large amounts of money purchasing forei

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We believe it does offer some opportunity, but we also believe very firmly that it could offer better opportunities, opportunities that would lead to the creation of more jobs in this country, that could lead to the creation or the sustainability of industries in this country tha

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  It will depend on some of the contracts. Some decisions are being taken now, and we hope these decisions will reflect the criteria I've mentioned: transparency, sustainability, transfer of technology, intellectual property, and creation of sustainable jobs in this country. I thin

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We have looked at what has happened in the past and what appears to be the trend now. The single point of accountability appears to put many of the critical decisions that will be made with regard to investment for servicing our military aircraft in the hands of non-Canadians. T

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  That is a very important question. The Canadian Forces need the equipment the government has decided to purchase. What I said earlier is that at the moment, most of the contracts that have been announced have not yet been completed. The final commitments made by the Government o

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members. Thank you in advance for your attention. I know that you received our submission. Our recommendations are clearly stated in our submission, and here today I will only provide you with key highlights and updates. My message is very