Industry committee  I'm not an expert in the oil and gas or minerals fields, so I can't really go too deep on that. I was just using that as an example of the government having the means available to control specific resources and specific industries right now.

Industry committee  From my own perspective [Technical difficulty—Editor]. I would be concerned about a Canadian-specific approach in technology and IP. The reason for that is to consider telecommunications. Do you remember how, with Wi-Fi, it used to be almost impossible to do anything, and then a bunch of entities got together and really put a ton of money—billions and billions of dollars—into figuring out how to make Wi-Fi faster?

Industry committee  [Inaudible—Editor]

Industry committee  The Canadian Bar Association talked about de minimis investments of up to $5 million or something like that. Certainly, the first million dollars seem hard money for a lot of smaller entities to get. It's not going to move the needle nationally, but those types of investments are critical for smaller entities.

Industry committee  Absolutely.

Industry committee  Yes.

Industry committee  Perhaps I might address your question of whether things have changed. Would that be acceptable, Chair?

Industry committee  Thank you. I would look at it in three different ways. One, things have changed generally. Foreign interference in elections is obviously very topical. There seems to be much more activity with the United States or here. Two, there are concerns about ownership and scarcity of essential resources.

Industry committee  Let me just deal with definitions first. I flagged the concern about the capture of a U.S. entity or foreign entity by a de minimis investment. I think that can be corrected by looking at proposed paragraph 11(c) carefully and just putting the word “Canadian” back into proposed paragraph 11(c), which doesn't exist, before the word “entity”.

Industry committee  Yes, absolutely. It's investments and the location of businesses here, which, again, I think we want to encourage. The other thing the Canadian Bar Association talks about is what “material non-public technical information” means, and they suggest that should be teased out. The concern I have, as a practical litigator who deals with trade secret litigation all the time, is that it basically depends on the circumstance of each company.

Industry committee  It's interesting. I don't have a comprehensive understanding of all other countries. What I can speak to is the atmosphere in Canada towards investment and the need for more investment, particularly in R and D. It takes an enormous amount of money, with little return and no knowledge that there will be a return.

Industry committee  Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I'm a litigator by training. I have a firm in Toronto called Gilbert's LLP. We work with innovation-driven clients, particularly those who are dependent upon investment for IP. We also work with indigenous communities, which increasingly are looking to expand their economic footprint.