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Results: 1 - 15 of 20
Mitch Davies
View Mitch Davies Profile
Mitch Davies
2021-02-04 13:04
Madam Chair, perhaps I can start. Then I'll ask a colleague to talk about the contractual negotiations.
It is a fact that the researchers at the National Research Council are familiar with the technology underlying the AstraZeneca vaccine. In fact, the facility that is being built, the biologics manufacturing facility, would have the capability to make that type of vaccine. The important matter, of course, is the company with which you're going to strike a deal to pursue that. In this case, we announced earlier this week the MOU with Novavax, which is to pursue production at that facility and in line with our capabilities, which have been mentioned.
I'll ask my colleague if he'd like to provide further information in terms of the discussions that were undertaken with each of the vaccine manufacturers, including AstraZeneca, which I think Minister Anand did address. It was part of those conversations at the early stage.
View Ali Ehsassi Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Ali Ehsassi Profile
2021-02-02 12:14
Thank you very much.
Now I will turn to Mr. Stewart.
I'm quite surprised that you have been barraged with a number of questions that really don't relate to PHAC and instead relate to the NRC. For the benefit of the members of our committee, could you explain the differences and the responsibilities of PHAC and the NRC, please?
Iain Stewart
View Iain Stewart Profile
Iain Stewart
2021-02-02 12:14
Of course. The National Research Council is over 100 years old. It's a 15 research centre institution that does research with a lot of partners, about 800 different partners a year. In any given year, they have many projects with all kinds of companies from all across aerospace, life sciences, agriculture, you name it.
Of course, the Public Health Agency is focused on the public health of Canadians, whether it's funding programs to support things like addressing early childhood development, or the opioids crisis, or, on the other hand, today very evidently preparing for an immunization program and responding to the pandemic.
I'm being red-flagged so I'll stop there.
View James Cumming Profile
CPC (AB)
Good morning, Madam Chair.
Good morning to my fellow committee members.
You have all received the motion that I will be putting forward. I do respect the work of this committee and the work the committee is currently on. However, in my mind, with my colleagues who signed the letter, we have a significant issue in front of us regarding the domestic production of vaccines. Earlier in the year, it was announced that Canada would have a production capability of up to 70,000 to 100,000 doses per month. We've seen that the U.K. has already started with making appointments. Here in Canada we still don't know when vaccines will be supplied, when they'll they'll be stored, and when they'll be distributed.
On November 20, Health officials confirmed that Canada did not negotiate the right to domestically produce vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca, implying that even if Canada developed the capacity to produce vaccines, we're putting Canadians at the mercy of international production. This is a very significant issue for Canada, because without a vaccine and without rapid testing, it will be very difficult to see our economy return. It's been 11 months, and thousands of jobs have been lost. We've spent billions of dollars. We've accumulated, as we saw from the economic update, significant debt.
Although we have supported many of the programs that have been put forward, we do think the ability for Canada to access vaccines and to have the ability to produce vaccines is critical for the economic recovery for the country.
My motion is as follows:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology commence a study on the emergency situation involving the domestic manufacturing capacity for a COVID-19 vaccine;That this study examine the May 12, 2020, announcement by the Government of Canada regarding $44-million to refit a National Research Council facility in Montreal for the purposes of the production of a vaccine in collaboration with CanSino Biologics, and review and examine all related issues, including:(a) the investment of $44-million into the facility and the necessary upgrades to space, technology, equipment and personnel that would need to be made as a result,(b) the potential impact of this initial announcement on the government's plans to procure other vaccines,(c) the facility's prior capacity to manufacture vaccines, including past delivery orders and schedules, and(d) the dissolution of the announced partnership between the National Research Council and CanSino Biologics on August 26, 2020, and its impact on the planned upgrades to the facility; andThat, in order to fully study this emergency situation, the Committee invite the Minister of Health, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada, each to appear separately before the committee for at least three hours, provided that(a) in respect of each of the ministers who does not agree, within one week of the adoption of this motion, to accept this invitation for the length of time prescribed, the Chair shall be instructed to report to the House forthwith a recommendation that this committee be empowered to order his or her appearance from time to time, and(b) in respect of the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada, if he does not agree, within one week of the adoption of this motion, to accept this invitation for the length of time prescribed, a summons do issue for his appearance before the Committee at a date and time determined by the Chair but no later than three weeks following the adoption of this motion.
Madam Chair, that is my motion. I do think this is a critical issue for Canadians and a critical issue for this committee to be able to study and to be able to get answers for Canadians.
Thank you.
View Sherry Romanado Profile
Lib. (QC)
I do not have the amendment in French, but I will read it in English. I apologize. It was submitted in English.
I would like to replace the second part of the motion with the following:
That in order to fully study this emergency situation, the committee invite the Minister of Health, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada, each to appear before the committee for one and a half hours
Then it would continue, “provided that”, followed by paragraphs (a), (b), etc.
Seeing no further debate on that amendment, all in favour? All opposed?
(Amendment agreed to)
The Chair: Now, I'd like to go back to the motion as amended. Do we have any further debate on the motion as amended? There is no further debate. Is it the will of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
The Chair: Perfect.
With that, I will work with the clerk to see what we can do to schedule the witnesses who have been identified in this motion.
With respect to the other studies that are currently ongoing, we will verify the availability of the others—for instance, the telecom witnesses, as well as the competition commissioner—and get back to the committee.
We will also get back to the committee to let you know if there is a possibility of adding additional meetings between now and December 11, if any slots are available.
Also, of course, we will get back to the committee should the House adopt a motion allowing us to have additional meetings in the hybrid format for the week of December 14.
I'm going to turn to the clerk to see if there are any other outstanding action items coming out of today's discussions that I'm missing. No? Okay.
Perfect. Are there any other questions or comments?
Seeing none, I will now call this meeting adjourned.
View Sherry Romanado Profile
Lib. (QC)
I now call this meeting to order. Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to meeting number six of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of September 23, 2020. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. Be aware that the website will show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I'd like to outline a few rules, as usual. Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting, and you have the choice at the bottom of your screen of “Floor”, “English” or “French”.
For members participating in person, please proceed as you usually would when the full committee is meeting in person in the committee room, keeping in mind the directives from the Board of Internal Economy regarding masking and health protocols.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on video conference, please click on your microphone to unmute yourself. For those in the room, the microphone will be controlled as usual by the proceedings and verification officer. This is a reminder that all comments must be addressed through the chair. When you're not speaking, please mute your microphone.
With regard to the speaking list, the clerk and I will be doing our best to maintain the speaking order.
Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), the committee is meeting today to continue its study on the main estimates 2020-21.
As is my normal practice, I will hold up a yellow card when you have 30 seconds left in your intervention and a red card when your time is up. Please respect the time limits, as we want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to have their turn.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses for the first panel. We have the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages. I will introduce our other guests at the end of this first panel and the beginning of the next so that we do not delay any further.
With that, I will turn the floor over to Minister Bains. You have the floor for five minutes.
View Sherry Romanado Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you very much.
With that we will have to end our questioning, because we have to move into the votes for the main estimates. I'd like to thank our witnesses again for their time today, and their testimony. If any follow-up is required.... I know there was some documentation requested of the deputy minister. Could you please make sure that it gets to the clerk so that he can circulate it to the committee members?
With that, before us we have the various votes under the main estimates. I believe there is some agreement here, but I would like to ask the committee if there is consent to carry all the votes on division and report the same back to the House.
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: That is perfect. Thank you.
ATLANTIC CANADA OPPORTUNITIES AGENCY
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$68,395,032
Vote 5—Grants and contributions..........$223,992,801
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
CANADIAN NORTHERN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$17,365,446
Vote 5—Grants and contributions..........$45,339,219
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$195,845,837
Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$51,745,453
Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$67,965,000
(Votes 1, 5 and 10 agreed to on division)
CANADIAN TOURISM COMMISSION
Vote 1—Payments to the Commission..........$95,665,913
(Vote 1 agreed to on division)
COPYRIGHT BOARD
Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$3,834,507
(Vote 1 agreed to on division)
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$459,957,408
Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$7,433,000
Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$2,389,191,705
Vote L15—Payments pursuant to subsection 14(2) of the Department of Industry Act..........$300,000
Vote L20—Loans pursuant to paragraph 14(1)(a) of the Department of Industry Act..........$500,000
(Votes 1, 5, 10, L15 and L20 agreed to on division)
DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$42,274,210
Vote 5—Grants and contributions..........$228,161,383
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF CANADA FOR THE REGIONS OF QUEBEC
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$40,468,977
Vote 5—Grants and contributions..........$255,628,788
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
FEDERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR SOUTHERN ONTARIO
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$30,390,354
Vote 5—Grants and contributions..........$218,183,579
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$454,716,057
Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$56,400,030
Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$461,135,770
(Votes 1, 5 and 10 agreed to on division)
NATURAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH COUNCIL
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$54,411,479
Vote 5—Grants..........$1,304,972,077
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$34,825,266
Vote 5—Grants..........$938,395,419
(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)
STANDARDS COUNCIL OF CANADA
Vote 1—Payments to the Council..........$18,321,000
(Vote 1 agreed to on division)
STATISTICS CANADA
Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$539,369,331
(Vote 1 agreed to on division)
View Sherry Romanado Profile
Lib. (QC)
Good morning, everyone.
I now call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number five of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of September 23, 2020. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. Please be aware that the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I'd like to outline a few rules.
Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French.
For members participating in person, proceed as you usually would when the whole committee is meeting in person in a committee room. Keep in mind the directives from the Board of Internal Economy regarding masking and health protocols.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. For those in the room, your microphone will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer. I remind you that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. When you're not speaking, please mute your microphone.
With regard to the speakers list, the committee clerk and I will do our best to maintain the order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.
Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), the committee is meeting today to commence its study on the main estimates 2020-21.
As is my normal practice, I will hold up a yellow card when you have 30 seconds remaining in your intervention, and I will hold up a red card when the time for your intervention is over.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses.
Today we have the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade. We also have the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development. From the Department of Industry, we have Simon Kennedy, deputy minister; Paul Thompson, associate deputy minister; and Douglas McConnachie, assistant deputy minister and CFO.
Each witness will present for up to five minutes, followed by rounds of questions. We want to be able to get two rounds in for the first hour with the ministers, so I will be very rigid on the clock.
With that, I will turn to Minister Ng. You have the floor for five minutes.
View Glen Motz Profile
CPC (AB)
You commented that obviously intrusions into research have occurred. Do you recall back in 2014 the cyber-threat that occurred inside the systems of the National Research Council? It resulted in a complete shutdown of their entire network and, in fact, it had to be entirely replaced right down to the wiring. This intrusion is said to have cost in excess of $100 million to remedy. Do you think the motive behind that was fraud as well or some other purpose?
Scott Jones
View Scott Jones Profile
Scott Jones
2020-05-20 15:45
We assessed that the National Research Council breach was very much focused on intellectual property theft.
View Glen Motz Profile
CPC (AB)
You guys were involved in that investigation. Did you also help secure the new network?
View Glen Motz Profile
CPC (AB)
Okay, good.
The government of the day pointed the finger at Chinese-state-sponsored actors. Would that be correct in your assessment?
Scott Jones
View Scott Jones Profile
Scott Jones
2020-05-20 15:46
That was the statement given by the government at the time.
View Glen Motz Profile
CPC (AB)
Okay, so now, moving forward, was your organization, Mr. Jones, as an adviser on cybersecurity and computer security, consulted on the new partnership agreement between the National Research Council, the Chinese-owned CanSino Biologics and the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences for the development of the new COVID vaccine?
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