Industry committee  Further to the first part of your comment, it strikes me as unlikely to be coincidental that the sale went through immediately after the launch, because obviously the successful launch dramatically increased the value. The Canadian government took the risk, and ATK reaps the bene

Industry committee  It is covered under Bill C-25 as long as we remain the licensee, and this is an absolutely central question: do we remain the licensee once the MDA space program has been sold to an American company, or does the licence transfer to the U.S. government? Even if we somehow notion

Industry committee  This committee needs to find out. I find it difficult to conceive that Canada would remain the licensee in the long term, but I'm prepared to be proven wrong on that if someone could do so.

Industry committee  I think you should ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs and perhaps his lawyers what they think is actually the consequence here. It's of absolutely crucial importance that we discover whether we would retain the licence, because without that licence there's really nothing we can

Industry committee  The real question is not to what degree have we made concessions and partnered with the United States, because we do obviously have a common interest in most situations, but how do we get that satellite when we really need it for something that is inherently Canadian in its inter

Industry committee  It's a very good question. Thank you for it. The history of RADARSAT-2 is linked to the exceptional character of the technology, the fact that it was so cutting edge. Having this three-metre resolution and its ability to see at night through clouds was something that concerned t

Industry committee  I can only suggest that this is an issue the committee should pursue, but in addition to that, let me say one more thing. To block this sale is not to deny the U.S. government legitimate access to the imagery from the satellite. It can purchase this imagery on the open market, an

Industry committee  The issue of ATK's activities is not one that concerns me so much. I understand there are people who are concerned about the fact that ATK produces land mines or depleted uranium shells, but I don't see a legal violation of the land mines convention inherent in what is proposed.

Industry committee  There are two points. First, on the national security element of a test, there already is a national security test. That is in the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act, and in a joined-up kind of way I would like to think that the Department of Industry and this committee would consi

Industry committee  I am an expert in international law; I'm not an expert in domestic law. But in my reading of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act, it is bridging the divide between domestic and international law, and given that this satellite is a component of our foreign policy and our capacity

Industry committee  I will be finished in less than a minute. Suppose that the United States sends a ship into the Northwest Passage without Canada's consent. The Canadian government recently announced that it would introduce legislation enabling foreign investments to be blocked if they are cont

Industry committee  Thank you very much for having me appear here today. Thank you very much. I will be speaking in English, but I do understand questions asked in French. I too have been following the issue of RADARSAT closely for some years now. Most recently, it's been in my capacity as the l

National Defence committee  The response is that it was not a systematic practice of torture. Those were a couple of soldiers who of course were treated to the full rigour of the Canadian military justice system. What I'm more concerned about, and what I think Amnesty International is concerned about, are c

National Defence committee  I don't know, but knowing what I know of the seriousness with which the Dutch government takes these matters, I would expect they have.

National Defence committee  I'm not sure whether we need our own detention facility, but certainly building one or helping the Afghan authorities to build one that could be co-managed to deal with these kinds of detainees would cost some money. But, again, the question is what value we put on our adherence