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Results: 76 - 90 of 206
Robert Fung
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Robert Fung
2021-03-12 13:20
Chair, committee members, panellists, good afternoon.
Let me begin by emphasizing that there's an opportunity for Canadian leadership in this vital strategic sector that we cannot afford to miss. I will focus on three topics: first, the opportunity to build a critical new industry in Canada; second, I will use the Torngat rare earth project in northern Quebec, which I chair, as an example of Canada's opportunity to be a global leader of an industry vital to the low-carbon economy; and third, the important actions that the government can take to realize this opportunity for Canada.
Rare earths are critical to enable the world to transition to a low-carbon economy. They are a group of 17 elements which are critical raw materials because of their technologically advanced and strategic end uses. They are used in lasers, medical scanners, emission-reducing catalysts, fibre optic telecommunications, ceramic capacitors—literally any technologically advanced piece of equipment. However, the most important use to get to a low-carbon economy is to manufacture permanent magnets for electric motors, wind turbine generators and even for the speakers in our smart phones. They are needed everywhere.
Electric vehicles use permanent magnet motors because of their higher efficiency and smaller size and weight. When Canadian auto manufacturers, in fact, all global manufacturers, commit to electrifying their vehicle platforms, they are creating an enormous demand for specific rare earth elements. Canada has the opportunity to develop our own secure supply of rare earths to support Canada's, the United States', and the world's demand for electric vehicles and to do so in an environmentally sustainable fashion.
Today, China supplies in excess of 80% of world demand. We all know that is not a geopolitically acceptable situation.
Torngat Metals is a Canadian-owned company, developing one of the world's largest rare earth ore bodies with the best mix of the particular rare earths needed to make permanent magnets. Torngat's deposits are located in northern Quebec, about 240 kilometres northeast of Schefferville. It is Torngat's strategy to prioritize environmental sustainability throughout all of its operations and emphasize consultation and collaboration with indigenous governments and communities on all aspects of the project.
The rock containing rare earths will be mined in a totally environmentally sustainable manner using wind power as much as possible and using the Lockheed Martin hybrid airships to transport the rare earth concentrate to Schefferville, then by rail to Sept-Îles and to the processing plant in the Bécancour industrial park between Montreal and Quebec City.
Producing the separated rare earth oxides is where the value is created, and Torngat is collaborating with world-leading technology partners to assemble the expertise needed to produce these specialty chemicals and to grow this expertise and related R and D in Canada. Torngat targets to produce cost-competitive separated rare earths in Quebec in 2025-26.
Rare earth projects such as Torngat's need support to get into production to meet Canada's needs and the industrialized world's needs, so let me offer four recommendations for Canada:
First, set a near-term deadline for NRCan and ISED to complete and publish their critical metals and rare earths strategy. Second, increase federal government efforts to collaborate with Europe, the U.S. and Japan on building new supply chains outside of China. Third, expand the criteria with existing NRCan and ISED programs to enable rare earth projects to qualify and apply for funding. Fourth, provide funding assistance for development projects to bridge the gap between early-stage development and construction financing.
These initiatives would make an enormous impact for these projects to get into production more quickly.
When I read a report of the Government of Australia's commitment to hardwire themselves into the global supply chain using access to their $1.3-billion modern manufacturing fund, and we, in Canada, have the natural resource, are an education nation with highly skilled labour and sit next to the world's largest economic and industrialized country, I can only implore Canada to step up. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity for our country and for our allies.
Thank you, sir.
Juan Merlini
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Juan Merlini
2021-03-12 13:25
Mr. Chair, thanks. I will start, and then I'll pass to Nancy.
Members of the committee, good afternoon. It's a pleasure to appear before you today and have the opportunity to address the important topic of how Canada can position itself as a key supplier and enabler of critical minerals with the global low-carbon transformation that is under way.
My name is Juan Merlini. I oversee the sales and marketing function for Vale's base metals globally. I am joined by my colleague Nancy Concepcion, who leads our marketing and research teams for the base metals business line.
Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge that we are presenting to you today from the traditional lands of the Anishinabe, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat and Mississaugas of the Credit territories. Vale would also like to acknowledge the indigenous peoples whose lands we operate on in Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Vale is one of the world's largest integrated mining companies with global headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a market cap of approximately $90 billion.
Our global base metals business has a rich 119-year history. It is headquartered in Toronto and has operations across five continents. We are present in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba. As one of the largest producers of high-quality nickel and an important producer of copper and responsibly sourced cobalt, we produce the metals that are critical to building a cleaner and greener future.
Our operations in Canada provide employment to over 12,500 Canadians. Our direct and indirect GDP contributions to the Canadian economy over the past decade have totalled $43.7 billion Canadian, which includes $12.7 billion in capital investments.
Vale Canada produces 97,000 tonnes of nickel, representing 51% of the country's nickel output. Vale Canada produces over 125,000 tonnes of copper, representing 23% of the country's copper output. Regarding other key minerals for the low-carbon economy, Vale Canada also produces over 2,000 tonnes of cobalt as well as platinum and palladium.
Vale shares the government's determination to decarbonize the Canadian economy and create a greener and healthier future for Canadians. We have set ambitious decarbonization goals for all Vale's businesses across the world. By 2030, our plan is to achieve a 33% reduction in GHG emissions, and by 2050, carbon neutrality. Our company has announced $2 billion to meet these ambitious goals, and we are already under way in defining projects to get us to this target.
These efforts have involved, and will involve, far-reaching changes. I'd like to highlight that Vale in Ontario has already spent $1.5 billion to clean the air we breathe. Our clean AER, atmospheric emissions reduction, project, was the single largest environmental investment in the history of Greater Sudbury and resulted in an 85% reduction in sulphur dioxide, a 40% reduction in metals particulate and a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas from our Copper Cliff smelter complex. Looking at the present and to the future, we are focusing our efforts on electrifying our fleet, switching our fuels from diesel to biofuels and exploring the feasibility of storing carbon in tailings.
Our GHG agenda is only one part of Vale base metals' broader effort to advance the environmental, social and governance performance of our company and our industry. Given the issues around critical minerals in other parts of the world, we believe the Canadian mining sector has a special responsibility to set the standard in building positive relationships with local communities and delivering benefits to indigenous partners and other stakeholders where we do business.
As we look to the future, we believe that Vale is well positioned to contribute to the development of the electric vehicle industry. Here in Canada, we produce three key base metals: nickel, cobalt and copper. All of them are important components of the EV supply chain, but meeting Canada's aspirations to be a player in this market will involve addressing some important issues.
Meeting the rising demand will be a challenge, particularly for copper and nickel.
We also need to develop strategic long-term relationships in key spaces, such as EVs, and this includes partnerships with leading academics, institutions, customers and OEM producers that support long-term and significant investment. These innovation and supply chain ecosystems are essential.
Coordination among government levels will also be very important, as the supply chain will need federal, provincial and local coordination to ensure that we can respond to this generational opportunity as efficiently and cohesively as possible.
Bringing new nickel, copper or cobalt deposits online is capital intensive and takes a considerable amount of time. Even in the most stable and favourable mining investment jurisdictions like Canada, it still takes at least seven to 10 years from the discovery of a viable deposit until you have commercial production
All of these highlight the need to have the greatest amount of policy certainty, permitting support, coordination and commitment from government, which are essential for success. Lack of attention with regard to the upstream and the necessary investment in the upstream aspects of the supply chain and related processing development will constrain the development of the EV supply chain in Canada.
We see industry, downstream manufacturers and all levels of government as partners, and in order for a North American supply chain to be developed and remain robust, we will all need to work together to make this happen.
I'll pass it over to my colleague Nancy to highlight the landscape for EVs.
Kimberley Van Vliet
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Kimberley Van Vliet
2021-03-09 11:24
Madam Chair, thank you very much.
Honourable members of the standing committee, thank you for letting me present today.
My name is Kimberley Van Vliet. I am the director of aviation, aerospace and logistics for Invest Alberta. I am also the founder and CEO of WaVv and ConvergX, a strategic consulting company and a global congress that focus on technology transfers across multiple industries, including the aerospace industry.
Today, I am honoured to present to you as the director of aerospace for the Alberta Aviation Council, a catalyst for industry growth and the voice of aviation interests in Alberta. You have heard that the aerospace sector is an umbrella industry. It's an engine that powers economic growth and investment we desperately need for middle-class jobs in communities across Canada to build back better.
We have a unique opportunity. There lies before us a nation-building opportunity on an order of magnitude of the Trans-Canada Highway. The opportunity is the creation of the Canadian centre of excellence for aerospace and aviation research and training, CCEAART, which will attract foreign direct investment to link sustainable and responsible northern development; accelerate Canada’s Arctic sovereignty; and grow Canada’s middle class through advanced manufacturing jobs and training for indigenous peoples, youth and women. This opportunity will also provide job transition and export development opportunities to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
We have the perfect storm. As Arctic tanker traffic increases and global forces transcend upon the Arctic with repeated nation-state incursions into Canadian waters and airspace, the challenges facing Canada’s Arctic sovereignty are increasing exponentially.
We are also facing post-pandemic economic recovery challenges, with job and business losses never experienced before. Some of our hardest-hit communities are women. RBC reported that women who have lost their jobs during the pandemic will experience increased joblessness for longer than their male counterparts, and this is amplified in indigenous communities.
The economic impacts of COVID and the mounting pressures to tackle climate change are putting tremendous pressures on our industries and added pressure on Canada’s aviation and aerospace industry. Yet, in adversity, there is always opportunity to develop future workforces, put Canadians back to work and develop industries with jobs of tomorrow. There are countless technologies awaiting development that have yet to be imagined, markets waiting to be explored, and Canadians who are ready to build back better.
We have the vision. The CCEAART is a set of shovel-ready, finance-ready projects in Alberta. The Alberta Aviation Council is a supporter of this initiative, which was created by many devoted people, communities and organizations.
The main campus of this centre would be an innovation hub in the Edmonton area, where companies converge to develop new aviation, aerospace and defence technologies with a focus on space and unmanned systems. The centre, a supercluster of development, would accelerate new unmanned system platforms, materials science, propulsion systems, fuels research and ground systems. Canada and Alberta, with our highly skilled and technical workforce, could lead global use of nanotechnologies, AI, and advanced computing in aerospace.
This centre would also be a nexus of aerospace and aviation education for under-represented groups and provide access to Alberta’s world-leading engineering and business talent at a critical time for an area of the country that has been hardest hit by sectoral downturns and a global health pandemic.
Augmenting the campus, the centre would also manage an air corridor—the largest on earth—for research and testing of unmanned systems with continuous beyond visual line of sight operations, from southern Alberta all the way to the Arctic.
The centre’s programs would help to fund and accelerate Alberta’s Arctic gateway infrastructure, and would leverage Alberta’s research institutions that specialize in space systems, ethical fuels, hydrogen fuels, computing science and advanced materials—materials that are critical to the global, low-carbon energy transformation.
Alberta, with its unique position, is home to the Alaska Highway, a critical jumping-off point to the United States, and to its waterways to Hudson Bay. With Edmonton being one of the world’s most northern metropolises, it has the population and infrastructure needed to support northern development.
The centre would also support Canada’s Arctic sovereignty programs, by linking Alberta’s four military bases and the centre’s massive flight corridor, to accelerate development and testing of unmanned Arctic surveillance platforms. All this means jobs for Canadians and technologies that can be exported around the world.
We have policy asks. Alberta can't do it alone. Alberta has made aviation and aerospace a strategic pillar, backed by new initiatives like the new Invest Alberta Corporation, and the newly created Strategic Aviation Advisory Council, which are intended to aid an initiative like this.
An initiative like this requires collaboration from every level of government, including Ottawa. Federally, there are policies that may inhibit the types of FDI needed to develop the centre of excellence.
The SR and ED program eliminated capital expenditures. This has adversely affected advanced manufacturing industries like the automotive and aerospace industries. An aerospace company exporting its products around the world needs capital expenditures. We would like to see these expenditures reinstated.
The industrial and technological benefits policy could be improved to better incentivize foreign direct investments into small Canadian companies.
An aerospace industry, focused, indigenous benefits program is critical.
We need policies but also funding. We need federal leadership. We need you.
In conclusion, the Alberta Aviation Council is proud to present this Canadian nation-building opportunity, the Canadian centre of excellence for aerospace and aviation research and training.
This centre would leverage Alberta's unique assets. The benefits would reach well into the north, helping to advance reconciliation by developing our northern economies and communities responsibly and collaboratively with indigenous communities. Investments today ensure Canadian leadership tomorrow will benefit across our borders and beyond, providing a sustainable and secure future across Canada.
Thank you very much.
Mike Greenley
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Mike Greenley
2021-03-09 11:38
Thank you for the opportunity to make a presentation to the committee today. As opposed to an association, I'm now speaking as a corporation, on behalf of MDA.
MDA is a homegrown story of innovation and entrepreneurship. In 1969 University of British Columbia professor Dr. John MacDonald and his physics grad Vern Dettwiler founded MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates. Their goal was simple—to create an advanced technology company where talented engineering graduates could find employment in British Columbia. That humble start was the catalyst for B.C.'s technology industry, which today employs more than 100,000 people in the province.
Today MDA serves the world from our Canadian home and global offices as an international space mission partner and robotics, satellite systems and geo-intelligence pioneer with a 52-year story of firsts on and above the earth. With more than 2,000 employees across Canada, located in multiple provinces, MDA is leading the charge toward viable moon colonies, enhanced earth observation and communication in a hyper-connected world.
MDA's success is a direct result of Canada's early recognition, dating back to the dawn of the space era some 60 years ago, that it needed to harness space to achieve its national needs for telecommunications services and remote sensing of our large land mass and long coastlines. Today Canada's comparative advantage in this sector involves our country's robust space ecosystem, where the industrial and academic community collaborate to develop, build and operate complex space systems, all from within our domestic borders. Beyond manufacturing, the importance of space to Canada's national security, economic prosperity and place in the world cannot be understated. Space also has the ability to inspire the next generation to pursue science, technology, engineering and math studies in their education.
MDA plays an important role as a prime contractor for Canadian government flagship space programs and an anchor company in Canada's space innovation ecosystem, creating, developing and building solutions in Canada, exporting these solutions globally, and reinvesting in future Canadian innovation and intellectual property. Many of MDA's, and Canada's, space technologies are world-renowned. Our Canadarm robotics technology has branded Canada on the world stage, and serves as a source of inspiration and pride for Canadians. Our RADARSAT earth observation satellite technology is a leading source of knowledge about our planet.
MDA is pursuing a number of exciting commercial initiatives, such as our plan to build a commercial earth observation satellite mission as our follow-on to RADARSAT-2, as well as advanced technology work on Telesat's recently announced low-earth orbit satellite broadband network, Telesat Lightspeed. We are also planning to leverage our work on Canadarm3, the Canadian Space Agency's third-generation robotic system for NASA's moon-orbiting space station, into commercial opportunities in the on-orbit satellite servicing and space tourism sectors.
In April 2020 a group of enthusiastic Canadian investors, led by Northern Private Capital, repatriated MDA as a stand-alone, Canadian-headquartered private company. Together we are charting a path for growth as a pure space-play company focusing on the burgeoning space economy. Countries around the world are moving swiftly and decisively to participate in the new space economy, because while space may not be a final frontier, it is the next one. The global space market is worth over $420 billion today and is projected to surpass $1 trillion in the next decade. In 2020, in spite of the pandemic, this sector experienced record investment.
Canada is well positioned to lead in the future if we keep our hand in. Canada and the entire space community are planning to be part of this trillion-dollar economy in a big way. In order to do this, however, we need to have the Government of Canada as a partner. In this global sector, the government's role is paramount—as an investor, owner, regulator and anchor customer.
In terms of the post-pandemic economic recovery, the government should turn this epic challenge into an opportunity to build back better, building on strengths, charting a path to a future that focuses on areas of strength and claims them for this country. Space is one such area. Every dollar invested in space by the Canadian government has a strong multiplier effect, producing roughly twice the impact. Investments in space have an immediate effect. They are rocket fuel for Canada's economic recovery. This sector is poised to play a significant role over the long term as Canada positions itself for future prosperity and a continued high quality of life.
For the continued success of Canada's space sector and to position Canadian companies for the rapidly expanding global space economy, we need three things.
First, we need the Government of Canada to serve as an anchor customer to innovative space companies.
Second, we need continued investment in technology development and demonstration. There are a number of opportunities for Canada to do this for projects that could be active right now.
Third, we need a long-term space plan that outlines the government's planned investments in space as well as a modern regulatory framework. In these times of economic uncertainty, the space sector is a light on the horizon. With investments in space paying strong dividends now and over the long term, the sector is ready to play its part to help our country build back better.
Thank you.
View Ali Ehsassi Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Ali Ehsassi Profile
2021-03-09 12:15
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I will begin with Mr. Greenley.
First of all, heartiest congratulations, Mr. Greenley. MDA has been a huge home-grown success story. I want to congratulate you on that.
You mentioned the new space economy, and how it's currently worth approximately $450 billion, but you estimate, in the next decade, it will surpass $1 trillion.
Is Canada well positioned, as far as that new economy is concerned? How do we commercialize on opportunities that would become available?
Mike Greenley
View Mike Greenley Profile
Mike Greenley
2021-03-09 12:16
The key thing is to recognize that we have a strong space sector in Canada. The space sector is emerging and breaking out. The space sector shares a number of the supply chain participants with the aerospace sector, which means that with this rapidly taking off space economy, as we double down on success in that market, we definitely have the foundation to grow.
In terms of having key government programs in the area of earth observation, space-based communication and space exploration—as we now start to return to the moon, as society now goes to inhabit the moon in 2024—ensuring Canada's participation in those anchor programs would provide the foundation for us to then further commercialize the outputs of those programs into the market. We are seeing that on Canadarm3 with immediate commercialization opportunities for on-orbit servicing and space tourism. We would also see that in the areas of earth observation and communications.
View Bob Saroya Profile
CPC (ON)
I have something different, from a different angle.
For the start-up visas, if you go on the website it says 12 to 16 months. When the people who applied for the start-up visas a year ago go back now, they say the wait time is 31 to 34 months. Are we creating a new backlog here?
View Marco Mendicino Profile
Lib. (ON)
No, in fact I believe you'll see that we are making progress in reducing those processing times, not only with regard to the many pathways I've already mentioned but also when it comes to our visitor visa programs, including the start-up visa program, which was an innovation we created in collaboration with the private sector.
I have heard routinely from tech companies and self-starters who identify the start-up visa program as an incentive to come and invest in Canada by enticing those who wish to start a company. An example is ApplyBoard, started by the Basiri brothers who are international student graduates. They started a company here and are now able to encourage additional investments by helping international students navigate their way in Canada.
That sends a very strong signal to the rest of the world, to talent from around the world, that Canada is a place to invest in. Canada is a place to start that next idea, that next business, and through the start-up visa program, as we continue to make progress on our processing times, I believe we'll see more outcomes through this pathway.
View Bob Saroya Profile
CPC (ON)
Mr. Mendicino, instead of 12 to 16 months, if the wait is 34 months and we keep taking new applications—
View Rachel Bendayan Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for appearing today. Obviously, as you can see, as we discuss the Canada-U.S. relationship, we have around the table here a lot of very passionate folks.
Hon. Seamus O'Regan: And me too.
Ms. Rachel Bendayan: I would like to take it back to last week and to the important bilateral the President had with our Prime Minister. It seems to me that there are enormous opportunities going forward, whether, as you say, it's with respect to hydrogen or minerals, as you mentioned in your opening statement. I wonder if you can identify some of the things that make you hopeful about our future relationship with the United States, some of the opportunities that would be presented to our small and medium-sized businesses here in Canada, and how you think we can move forward from here.
View Seamus O'Regan Profile
Lib. (NL)
I think there's a tremendous amount of growth we could see in clean growth, clean energy, for instance in looking at smart grids, and in looking at energy efficiency. We're investing over a billion dollars in energy efficiency alone, and I am a big believer in it.
I grew up in Labrador in a town called Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and it was isolated at the time. When the federal government announced big programs, they never seemed to affect my community. What I love about, for instance, retrofits, which is something my counterpart in the United States is looking at as well, is that they affect where you live; they affect where you work. In other words, the jobs are created in your community. The International Energy Agency, whose meetings I now attend fairly regularly, has identified energy efficiency and home retrofits, for instance, and commercial retrofits, as being the world's hidden fuel. Those could get us anywhere from 30% to 40% towards our Paris targets. These are small things, but done en masse across this country, they can help us meet those targets.
We're willing to look at anything, really, that seems like a good idea to help us lower emissions and protect our workers. We've put $9.4 million towards tidal energy in Nova Scotia. We're putting money towards geothermal energy in Alberta. We have $15-million worth of solar farms in Alberta. We're building solar farms in Prince Edward Island. In the throne speech, we committed to working on the Atlantic Loop, which in effect would get the Maritimes off coal.
All of these things will help us lower emissions. All of these things will create jobs.
Mona Nemer
View Mona Nemer Profile
Mona Nemer
2021-02-25 11:06
Thank you very much.
Good morning.
Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to speak to you today.
Since my last appearance before this committee, in December 2017, I have fulfilled my first mandate and was subsequently reappointed for a two-year term in September 2020.
In the interest of time, I will not go into the details of my mandate, but as a science adviser to the Prime Minister and cabinet, I will say that the past year has been largely devoted to advice related to the COVID-19 health crisis.
Of course, the pandemic is an extremely complex situation with numerous facets. It's all the more challenging when it's due to a new virus about which we know very little, which is why in order to help inform my advice I established a multidisciplinary scientific advisory group early on. We focus on areas ranging from COVID-19 diagnostics and research needs to aerosol transmission, infection in children and long-term care settings.
Researchers were mobilized and willing to generously share their findings and advice. As a result, science has guided decision-making in real time like I have never seen before. The COVID-19 expert panel, made up of distinguished researchers and practitioners in infectious disease, disease modelling and behavioural sciences from across the country, held its first meeting on March 10. It has met since more than 40 times, and panel members also participated in several targeted task forces to which additional experts contributed. This ensured a coordinated and integrated science advice mechanism. Throughout, an impressive number of scientists and health practitioners have generously contributed their time and expertise for the service of their country.
My office also helped set up CanCOVID to stimulate COVID-19 research and partnerships. The network boasts over 3,000 members across the country and has been very successful in fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation.
In addition to domestic outreach, I have been in regular communication with my international counterparts. We share information on disease spread and containment, knowledge gaps, research activities and priorities, as well as clinical studies. This has kept us all up to date on the latest developments worldwide.
Early in the pandemic several clinical studies aimed at treating or preventing COVID-19 and its complications using existing drugs got under way, but the results were mostly disappointing. Attention increasingly focused on vaccine development for disease prevention.
In Canada, federal funds were allocated as early as March and April 2020 for vaccine and therapeutic developments through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
COVID-19 vaccine development, manufacturing and distribution were topics I discussed extensively with my international counterparts, including those in the U.K. and the U.S. It became evident to me that independent expert advice on vaccine development and procurement was needed, which is why I recommended the creation of the vaccine task force.
Made up of 11 members of Canada's vaccine research community and four ex officio members, of which I am one, the task force has been instrumental in helping to identify and prioritize vaccine candidates, support domestic vaccine development, and inform supply chain coordination.
I have participated in the vast majority of the task force meetings, and I have always been completely satisfied with the scientific rigour that framed their deliberations. Like so many others in Canada's scientific community, these researchers were ready and willing to step up and contribute pro bono their time and expertise to helping fight this health crisis. As a result, Canada now has a diverse portfolio of the leading effective vaccines from three different technologies. I believe that Canadians have been well served by this remarkable group.
The only downside to the amazing feat of the development of vaccines against COVID-19 is that the first of these vaccines came from outside the country. The fact that Canada has modest human vaccine production capabilities is not news; it's a problem that has existed for nearly four decades. As a scientist, I have spent most of my career in biopharmaceutical research, and sadly, I have witnessed the decline of our country's therapeutic development capacity over much of that time.
It does not have to be this way. Therapeutic development, whether vaccines or drugs, is a lengthy and complex process requiring dynamic collaboration among researchers, clinicians, government and private sector organizations. The rewards, as seen in this pandemic, are well worth the efforts.
Canada has exquisite assets to support a thriving biomanufacturing ecosystem from world-renowned scientists who continue to make critical discoveries in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences to innovative SMEs with promising products. But taking a discovery from the lab to the community or scaling up drug and vaccine production for human use is not a trivial undertaking.
It is my hope that the health needs and science successes witnessed during this pandemic will encourage us to put in place the resources and infrastructure to take our discoveries into innovative health products manufactured in Canada for Canadians, but also for the world.
Building our biomanufacturing capacity will not happen overnight, but it is vital that we work towards it, and now is the time to establish the strategies and act on them.
Science gave us hope and the tools to overcome this crisis, from diagnostics to vaccines and therapeutics. We in Canada have much to offer to fight this and future health threats. I look forward to the extraordinary opportunities that lie ahead.
Thank you.
Zane Hansen
View Zane Hansen Profile
Zane Hansen
2021-02-25 11:13
Thank you, Madam Chair, and good morning to members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be speaking to you today on the topic of single-event sports wagering.
My name is Zane Hansen and I am the president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, SIGA for short.
I will quickly give you some background on our company. SIGA is a casino operator situated in Saskatchewan. We are owned by the 74 first nations in our province. About 25 years ago, our first nations collectively reached an agreement with the province to guide the development of casinos in Saskatchewan.
Our purpose for getting into the casino business is not unlike other jurisdictions. We view the industry as a means to create employment, support economic development and raise revenues for our communities.
Since the early 1990s, the industry certainly has been quite resilient and has delivered very well on expected benefits. From our perspective at SIGA, we've done very well, developing seven regional casino markets. We've created employment through that for over 1,800 individuals, of whom 65% or more are of first nations origin.
Supporting on-reserve economic development was key as well. That helps build local infrastructure and tax bases for our first nations communities. As a non-profit, we annually return millions of dollars to our first nations communities, the provincial government and our regional charity foundations. In the context of first nations development, these benefits have been of critical importance.
As we all know, we're not in normal times. COVID-19 brought our sector to an abrupt halt almost a year ago. Like most casinos across Canada now, our properties are currently closed. At this point, our company faces mounting losses and we have now placed about 93% of our employees on various forms of leave.
I want to say we're grateful for the wage subsidy program implemented by the federal government. That has been key to our survival through this year. While the impacts are painful, we also understand the difficult measures that need to be taken to address this and to counter the virus. We all must find our way through this very difficult situation.
One tool that will help us recover is single-event wagering. This is an important piece of legislation that will really assist operators across the country.
I would say the gaming industry is no different from other sectors of the economy where advances in technology and evolving customer preferences drive continuous change. Single-event sports wagering is the perfect example of that. Customers prefer it because it is a more dynamic form of wagering and it primarily takes place under relatively newer channels to deliver gaming, which are online and mobile.
You will hear of many positions to support single-event wagering. I'll just share a few from our view as an operator.
First, we simply want the opportunity to compete and offer a product that our customers like. We see, of course, the unregulated “grey” market conducting business in our province, taking a lot of money out and not returning benefits to our stakeholders. You will see, across the country, that gaming operators are also heavily invested in the industry. Single-event wagering will bring further investment as companies look for ways to enhance the gaming entertainment experience based on sport.
To give you an example of that, single-event wagering is a perfect opportunity to take a multi-channel view with our customers. We can enhance and modify the food and beverage formats within our casinos, and we can complement that with the other channel of online or mobile, where people can bet that way. This will not only diversify our revenue base, it will also drive reinvestment and employment back into our casinos, once legislated.
It also protects the interests of our customers. As regulated operators, we make sure our customers are well informed on the games we provide and the integrity of the game is preserved. As legal operators, we are held to high standards of accountability in areas such as industry regulation, responsible gaming and processing of financial transactions. I think it would improve that whole area.
Those are just a few of the reasons we see single-event wagering as such an important part of our future.
As a casino operator and on behalf of SIGA and our stakeholders here in Saskatchewan, I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
View Chris Lewis Profile
CPC (ON)
View Chris Lewis Profile
2021-02-25 12:26
That's great. Thank you.
Mr. Dias, wouldn't passing Bill C-218 represent an expansion of gaming in this country? So isn't that in essence really what we're voting for?
Jerry Dias
View Jerry Dias Profile
Jerry Dias
2021-02-25 12:27
We're legalizing what's already done. If you don't pass the legislation, people will continue to go offshore, which is going to have a negative impact on Canadian jobs, so why wouldn't the government want to attract a net benefit from this? Why wouldn't we want to control it in a safe, regulated environment?
This is about creating good jobs for the communities. It's about a decent revenue stream for municipal, provincial and federal governments, and as I said, it could be done in a safe environment. I think it's a winner all the way around for Canadians.
Results: 76 - 90 of 206 | Page: 6 of 14

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