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Results: 1 - 15 of 70
View Annie Koutrakis Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Annie Koutrakis Profile
2021-05-20 16:49
I know that in your testimony you were kind of hoping to see $30 billion for the strategic innovation fund. We're starting with $7 billion.
If I misquoted you, I apologize.
View Annie Koutrakis Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Annie Koutrakis Profile
2021-05-20 16:50
Okay. This budget includes a significant commitment of $7 billion to the SIF, which has been an effective program in helping businesses grow and innovate.
How do you see the chemical and plastics industry making use of the $5 billion in funding for decarbonization of industry through the net-zero accelerator?
View Sean Fraser Profile
Lib. (NS)
View Sean Fraser Profile
2021-05-20 13:39
On a similar vein to the question I put to Ms. Tiessen on how we set ourselves up for success, there are a couple of envelopes included in the budget around the strategic innovation fund, including about $5 billion for the net-zero accelerator fund.
You're speaking to a group of parliamentarians here. In your mind, what would you have us do when this meeting ends, if we're going to help inform the next step to make sure that the money that's being budgeted for is actually deployed in the most effective way?
View Sébastien Lemire Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would simply like to say to the honourable member from Pontiac that his riding is enormous and includes the municipality of Grand-Remous, which is close to the UQAT centre in Mont-Laurier. Our ridings are neighbours.
Ms. Aubry, the city of Rouyn-Noranda will soon be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its foundation. The city is not as old as Montreal, which will be 400 years old soon, or La Pocatière, but it will nonetheless be marking its centenary and you will probably be involved in the celebrations.
What can you tell us about the role Collectif Territoire is playing in our economic and environmental recovery in terms of regional innovation and helping industry to transition? What role can Collectif Territoire play in this recovery?
View Ali Ehsassi Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Ali Ehsassi Profile
2021-05-13 12:47
Thank you, Madam Chair; and thank you to all of the witnesses for appearing before committee today.
Mr. Mills, I wonder if I could pick up where you left off. You were explaining to us the need to stimulate innovation and risk-taking, and things of that nature.
Given that you explained to us how it's important to incentivize risk-taking to spur innovation, I take it that you look at it from a comparative context. What jurisdiction or country would you say has done the best job on that particular front?
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, as you know, the greater Montreal area and other parts of Quebec are home to thousands of tech start-ups. At the beginning of the pandemic, they told us that the wage subsidy program was inadequate in terms of coverage. A start-up is, by definition, a business where someone puts up their own money while working towards a technological development, which, once ready, they can sell and reap the benefits of. The government turned to the innovation assistance program, administered by the National Research Council of Canada.
Now, some start-ups are asking why the program was not extended until September 25, like other income support programs. As we know, the innovation assistance program provides more than $250 million in funding, largely to start-ups. Some have even warned that, if the program ends, they could go bankrupt by the end of the pandemic.
Why end the innovation assistance program when we are this close to the goal line?
View Warren Steinley Profile
CPC (SK)
That would make sense, because one of the comments you made was that sometimes you couldn't differentiate between natural gas going into a house and a grain dryer or a barn, and there is an instance where a natural gas line doesn't have its own meter that goes to a barn or a grain dryer, because many farms have different farmyards for their grain dryers and their house.
I was very surprised by that comment, because that just doesn't happen anymore. You can always tell what natural gas is going to be used for heating a home and heating a barn, drying grain or running an irrigation pump, so that was a bit surprising to me.
Mr. Parry, you've said many times that innovation is driven by carbon pricing or a price on carbon in agriculture. Do you believe that statement?
View Warren Steinley Profile
CPC (SK)
Okay, thanks. That's perfect.
I'd ask: Can you tell me the tax that was forced on farmers that led to the innovation of zero tillage?
View Warren Steinley Profile
CPC (SK)
Yes. That was an amazing innovation that led to great soil conservation and the ability of farmers to have better soil quality and more nutrients in the soil.
Mr. Parry, can you tell me the innovation that led to crop rotation for grazing for ranchers across Canada, and what tax led to that innovation?
View Warren Steinley Profile
CPC (SK)
I agree with you 100%. I think innovation and conversations through farmers and sharing data have led to amazing innovation in the agriculture sector. I put on the record that saying—and having very senior people in the Department of Agriculture say—that innovation is brought forward in agriculture by carbon pricing is something I think many people I represent and many people I know would have a difficult time believing is the only way to get to innovation.
I think that's what this bill is about, when you talk about it. You can't get innovation. I know we talked about how there might be innovative and new technologies for grain drying. There might be, but that's five to 10 years off. The reason, Mr. Parry, you couldn't mention one is because there isn't an innovation right now that can dry 50,000 bushel bins, other than natural gas or propane. We're a long ways off of that.
This bill Mr. Lawrence is proposing is that exemption to give farmers a chance to continue to do what they do well, because there are farmers in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba who pay tens of thousands of dollars on a carbon tax because of using grain dryers and irrigation pumps.
Mr. King, you talked about irrigation. My farm still has delivery. They have a propane tank, and that propane tank is delivered by a truck into the yard, and that tank runs a motor that pumps irrigation through the pipes. It's not just a pipeline. There are still cases where propane gets delivered for on-farm use. I think Mr. Lehoux would have many people who have propane delivered to heat barns in his riding of Beauce.
Those are just a couple of things I wanted to point out. Farming is an agribusiness in Saskatchewan and western Canada, and they're very big operations. These grain dryers are solid equipment, industrial equipment, that gets used to keep people fed, not only across Canada but around the world. I believe these farmers need this exemption to make sure they can continue to provide that good service.
My final question would be: When it comes to crop rotation—and I know you guys know this very well—it is one of the great innovations in agriculture that led to keeping nutrients in the soil. Once again, I'd ask Mr. Parry: Was there a tax brought forward that induced crop rotation practices by farmers across Canada?
View Warren Steinley Profile
CPC (SK)
I appreciate that statement very much, and I know farmers are as innovative as they can be, because they know that their bottom line is very important. I know they do whatever they can to innovate, not only for the environment but for the bottom line and to ensure that their operation is successful now and for the next generation of farmers in Canada.
Thank you both very much for your time.
View Dave Epp Profile
CPC (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Lawrence.
Mr. Parry, I believe you said in your testimony that agricultural greenhouse gas emissions have been stable since 2005. What does that tell you about the rising production from agriculture since then? With rising greenhouse gas emissions from virtually every other segment of our society, what does that tell you about the innovation and environmental stewardship of the agricultural community?
View Lyne Bessette Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
One of my colleagues asked the previous witnesses a question earlier. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it, to wrap up.
Do you know how other countries are transitioning to greener farm fuels? What does innovation in this sector look like around the world?
View Pierre Paul-Hus Profile
CPC (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon to the witnesses.
The Innovative Solutions Canada program was launched in December 2017. So the 2019-2020 report was tabled two or three years after its implementation.
In the “Challenge Stream” component of this report, funding provided to companies, particularly in the technology and health fields, is discussed. Recipients of funding included 60 businesses. No indigenous businesses received funding, no businesses run by people with disabilities received funding, and only two businesses run by women received funding.
Is there a reason for this?
View Pierre Paul-Hus Profile
CPC (QC)
So none of the three witnesses here today can answer these questions.
I assume the same will be true for my next question. In the 2019-2020 annual report, it states that only 2.6 % of the companies that applied to the programs were majority women-owned companies.
In your opinion, is this low percentage normal?
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