Ted Hewitt made an opening statement and, with the other witnesses, answered questions.

Alexander Nuttall gave notice of the following motion:

That, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, extend an invitation to Porter Airlines to speak to the committee, as soon as possible, about what approval of the Billy Bishop Airport would have meant for their business, the jobs that it would have created locally, and their order of Bombardier CSeries aircraft; that they testify as to the criteria for their purchase that made the Bombardier CSeries aircraft seem like the right choice for their business needs when compared to other aircraft of similar size.

At 4:30 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:40 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

It was agreed, That the First Report from the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, which reads as follows, be concurred in:

Your Subcommittee met on Thursday, February 25 and Tuesday, March 8, 2016, to consider the business of the Committee and agreed to make the following recommendations:

1. That the Main Estimates 2016-17 be added to the Order of the Day for the upcoming meetings with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development; the Minister of Science, and the Minister of Small Business and Tourism.

2. That the committee study and develop recommendations needed for Canada’s small, medium and large manufacturing industry and report back to the House: (a) identifying the manufacturing industry as a strategic sector for economic development; (b) reviewing the causes and consequences of manufacturing job loss; (c) reviewing ways to improve Canada’s manufacturing sector; (d) analyzing the state of industrial innovation across Canada, including (i) Industry-Academic collaborations (ii) Innovation Centres (iii) Business Incubators and Accelerators, and (iv) Innovation Funding Sources, and (e) proposing solutions that will strengthen the manufacturing sector as well as protect and promote manufacturing employment and training to fill skills shortages in the domestic labour force.

At 4:51 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:56 p.m., the sitting resumed.

It was agreed, — That Earl Dreeshen's motion submitted on February 18, 2016 be amended to read as follows:

I request that the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology undertake a study on broadband connectivity, with a primary focus on developing a plan to improve rural connectivity, local rural economies, and community engagement; that the committee, make recommendations that identify and address; a) the financial challenges of implementing high-speed services, b) what constitutes acceptable high-speed service, c) the regulatory changes to encourage the implementation of high-speed service; that the study consist of not more (or less) than six (6) meetings and that the committee report its findings to the House.