Industry committee  I'll start, and I'll be very brief because I'd like to hear others. We've heard some of the roadblocks in terms of it taking a long time from developing a deposit to getting it out of the ground. That's a huge roadblock. There are regulatory challenges there. We know that, but there are also capital challenges, so we need investment, both from government and foreign direct investment.

Industry committee  I'll answer that directly and say that it's both, and the reason is that we need a lot of this stuff. We've talked a lot about dependency on foreign powers for these materials, and that's a real issue, but a longer-term issue is that actually the world is going to need a lot more of all this stuff.

Industry committee  For a full ecosystem, we talked about the time frames for mining. That's a big part of it. The great news is that we actually have a lot of that ecosystem. We have manufacturers. We mentioned Lion Electric. We have electric heavy-duty manufacturers and mining manufacturers. We obviously have a mature auto sector here.

Industry committee  This is very important for us. It is one of the main elements of this project. Exploring and exploiting the mining sector is an advantage for Canada. Today it was pointed out that Canada's mining sector is very advanced, more so than most countries in the world. So we have to ask ourselves whether we can exploit our natural resources for this project so that Canada can be a leader in the electric vehicle sector.

Industry committee  I was just saying that it's everything you've highlighted. It is the infrastructure. It is development of new mines and new technologies as well. You look at Alberta and there's a lot of interest in looking at oil wells and working with the brines to extract lithium. There's an opportunity not just for traditional mining here.

Industry committee  It's all of that. It is infrastructure. It is the mines. It's the processing and the R and D as well. I know there are others on this panel who have deeper expertise in the actual mining part of this, but you've identified the key components that need to be invested in. The reality that we are experiencing is that it needs to be invested in [Technical difficulty—Editor]

Industry committee  My Internet was unstable. I'm back though. I'm sorry I couldn't finish the last question.

Industry committee  Is that in terms of just auto parts in general?

Industry committee  There may be people who are better placed than me to talk about the trade elements of this, to be honest. Obviously, we have a trade deal with the U.S. that allows for Canadian content in vehicles, but the vehicles are changing. These trade deals are predicated on technologies that exist when they're signed, so the car of the future, or the automobile or vehicle of the future, is not reflected in trade deals today.

Industry committee  Thank you. I think it shows that the world needs more critical minerals and processing capacity, not just in Canada. Canada needs an integrated strategy and supply chain that works in the North American context to bring more vehicles to market. Where Canada can distinguish itself is in the way its minerals are mined.

Industry committee  No, it is not too late at all. We know that other countries are ahead of the curve, but it is not too late for Canada. We need the provinces and the federal government to work as a team to identify opportunities in the mining, furniture, and manufacturing sectors and make the necessary investments.

Industry committee  Thank you. As Mr. Breton said, other countries are far ahead of Canada. So it's going to take some time. Our friends at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, or PDAC, have told us that it will take five, seven, or ten years to open mines. Of course, it will take time, but we also have many advantages.

Industry committee  That's a great question. We've talked about that a little already today. China, obviously, was well ahead of the rest of the world, and a lot of Asia has been able to catch up to China. I think the rest of the world, including Canada, is playing catch-up. The good news for Canada is that we have these critical minerals.

Industry committee  The EU has developed a really interesting battery strategy, as has Australia. Here's the really interesting thing for me. Canada has the opportunity to have a battery strategy. We have an opportunity to have a zero-emissions vehicle strategy, because we have an auto sector here that is decades old and we have thousands of people who know how to put these things together and design really advanced auto parts.

Industry committee  All right. I think I was talking about some of the work we're doing. We're working with a couple of our members to really develop Canada's battery sector. For example, with Clean Energy Canada, one of our members, we're leading a joint battery task force that works in consultation with various stakeholders, including OEMs and parts manufacturers, to advance our domestic battery industry.