Karim Bardeesy
Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park, Ontario · Liberal · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the continuing work of the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, the leader of the Green Party, on issues related to contaminants and leakage. I also want to thank her for the interventions regarding the work of the late Dr.”
“Mr. Speaker, treaty rights are sacrosanct to this government, as are the regimes that we have in place, including the regimes for non-compliance and the environmental damages penalties that we have under the legislation. Incidents such as the recent spill at Cold Lake are taken very seriously.”
“That work continues, with Environment and Climate Change Canada and indigenous groups working together through that working group to develop long-term, science-based solutions that will form recommendations to the minister . I think the hon.”
“It is a core responsibility of the current government, and, I would say, of government, both now and for future generations. We need to address risks associated with tailings management in a way that gives sustained attention and brings solutions grounded in sound science.”
“Mr. Speaker, we know that small businesses do well when consumer spending is up, and that is why we have made investments like the Canada groceries and essentials benefit. Wages are increasing faster than inflation, and we have cut taxes through measures like the superproductivity deduction to make it easier for businesses to invest.”
“I would add that, with some of the investments we have been making in science and research and some of the advances in technology, we hope this work can continue to accelerate and to inform policy-makers, government and hon. members in an even more timely fashion.”
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“I was just in conversation with my wife, who shared her frustration about the latest mishap with her phone. I will go back to Stewart Brand: The apparent paradox is profound: Maintenance is absolutely necessary and maintenance is optional. It it easy to put off, and yet it has to be done. Defer now, regret later. Neglect kills. What to do? What I so appreciate about our moment in the House is that the member for Bourassa has asked, what to do? What to do about this paradox, where maintenance is important? We delay it, but we are nested in even greater systems that are worth maintaining, which, for Stewart Brand, is ultimately the entire earth. The member for Bourassa 's response is that we are going to do something about this.”
“Humans maintain their bodies, their vehicles, their homes, and their cities, along with much else. Nearly everything worth maintaining is nested in something larger even more worth maintaining. But so much of doing maintenance is tiresome. Brush the damn teeth, change the damn oil. They are unrewarding chores—repetitive, boring, often frustrating, and endless. Since that part of maintenance is a pain, we shirk it, defer it, fail to budget time or money for it, let it drop to the bottom of the priority list. That’s easy to do because the necessity of maintenance accumulates invisibly and gradually . Then suddenly one day the thing breaks, the system falters, and everything stops in a turmoil of disruption, expense, and blame. A number of us have experienced this with our mobile devices.”
“I want to quote from Maintenance: Of Everything at some length because I think it captures the humanity that the member for Bourassa captured so well in his speech and the thing that is driving all of us, and is driving the frustrations behind and benefits from this legislation. The frustrations have been articulated by my colleagues across the way, as well as the benefits that this legislation could bring. Mr. Brand writes in his book: Maintenance is what keeps everything going. It’s what keeps life going. Every living thing spends a great deal of time and toil in maintaining its own life and the life of the systems it depends on. Plants tend the life of the soil they grow in. Beavers maintain their dams and thereby the pond that protects them.”
“I want to thank our friend from Bourassa for shining a light on this and for making a very strong statement that it will stop; that we are working in the opposite direction, where humans are going to be in control of technology; that we have, as humans, this intimate connection with the things around us; and that we have a right to repair. It brings to mind a recent book that has come out by Stewart Brand called Maintenance: Of Everything . Stewart Brand has always been on the cusp of the latest thinking about technology, human connectedness and the great ideas of our time.”
“I, too, would like to commend the efforts made by the Province of Quebec and by the people of Quebec to be leaders on this issue. [ English ] I also want to thank the member for Scarborough—Woburn , who, in previous parliaments and in Ontario, has been a very strong champion of the right to repair. We are standing on the shoulders, as has been said, of the provinces of Quebec and Manitoba and the European Union. Ontario is making steps. When we think about the idea of the right to repair, it may not be a human right, but repair is fundamental to all that is human, so this piece of legislation is a very human endeavour that puts humans back in control of technology and of the things that are increasingly governing us.”
“Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to take part in this debate, and I want to commend the member for Bourassa for introducing this bill and for speaking so powerfully about this major challenge. I would like to commend him for his speech, in which he outlined the benefits that workers will enjoy if the measures outlined in the bill are implemented. [ English ] I want to thank the other participants in the debate, too, including the member for Peace River—Westlock , who I think has a lot of experience and knowledge to share in the very particular matters that this bill covers. [ Translation ] I want to commend the comments made by the member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj and the member for Repentigny . I commend the Bloc Québécois for supporting this bill and recognizing the work done by the member for Bourassa .”
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from my colleague from Calgary Centre, who has a lot of economic credibility and expertise, which is why I am a bit confused by his critique of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Presumably, if there is a critique of the bank, then there is a critique of the projects in which the bank is investing. I am curious about whether the member is supportive of, or opposed to, the CIB's investment in the port of Montreal's Contrecœur terminal, the Peace Hills Trust, the Mersey River wind project or the north coast transmission line early works project. Are these not the kinds of projects that we should be investing in through a vehicle like the Canada Infrastructure Bank?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to make a brief comment on this opposition day motion, which is part of a pattern of opposition day motions that seem intended to tear down or attack things that are working to support the most vulnerable in our society, like the interim federal health program for refugees or now, with this motion, to tear down something that we are in the process of building. We know that sovereign wealth funds take generations and years to build up and to provide benefits. I want to ask my friend from Kings—Hants, what are the projects in his riding and his region that he thinks could ultimately benefit from that investment, from this fund?”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to inform my colleague from Calgary Centre and the House that Alexandre Moreau, our parliamentary internship program intern, who was in his office, assisted me with some of the research for this speech. However, any errors, including the one the hon. member is alleging, are definitely my own. Perhaps I will take the opportunity to talk about the record of the Wynne and McGuinty governments, in which I served as a staffer, another time, but I will invite my colleague, if he is indeed supportive of that broad range of opportunities in the clean energy space, to get behind our clean electricity strategy, the rebates for electric vehicles and our electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy.”
“We can hopefully get the kind of relationship between providers, Measurement Canada and the end users of these products, which are other businesses, as this is generally in the business-to-business space, where we can create a more dynamic economy where these devices are coming on board more quickly, while doing the key consumer protection work that is at the core of what Canadians expect.”
“Mr. Speaker, yes, this is about modernization. It has the intention to both protect consumers and unleash new innovations. For instance, the provision to allow businesses to introduce a new measurement device into the marketplace while awaiting evaluation and approval by Measurement Canada is a real game-changer. It allows those innovations to come to market, to be tested and to be deployed. Again, I am thinking of the comments from my colleague from La Pointe-de-l'Île .”
“Mr. Speaker, the story my colleague just told is very disappointing. The effect of the bill will be to help providers participate in the economy. I am willing to talk to the member after or during the debate to get a better understanding of what happened with that particular business. The purpose of the bill is to help providers have a good relationship with Measurement Canada so that they can bring their products to market.”
“Mr. Speaker, I think all Canadians, when they hear stories of the kind that my hon. colleague describes and that have been brought to the House, share a significant amount of concern. It is not acceptable. As someone who used to teach students who were working part-time in the grocery sector, they would tell me stories about some of the practices that were being suggested to them, with respect to related practices like shrinkflation or perhaps more overtly problematic practices like the one the member is talking about. I will share that while this piece of legislation does not address that directly, I would also commend the House for recently passing the bill brought forward by the member for Fleetwood—Port Kells , which does some work to address this problem around transparency. There are also tools through the Competition Bureau.”
“When we see that Measurement Canada sticker at the gas pump, we know that we are going to get the authoritative and correct measurement. We want to catalyze and create an economy that allows the digital tools to be deployed so that we can accelerate the deployment of tools for weights and measures in more sectors, especially the electric vehicle sector, so that we can create opportunities for Canadian businesses to participate in this very important digital economy, and so that Canadians can continue to trust the information they get, whether as consumers or as businesses, and so that we can do the work of continuing to protect Canadians, the very important work that the hard-working men and women of Measurement Canada do every day, which develops our economy, creates competition, creates efficiencies and builds trust for everyone.”
“The purpose of this bill is to modernize laws that have not been amended for more than 50 years. The last significant change was when Canada adopted the metric system, the International System of Units. That was over 50 years ago. Our system now is more digital and automated. Workers at this thriving organization that serves the public need tools to keep up with changes in the weights and measures system. In my opinion, this bill, which amends several acts, gives the government and the private sector the tools they need to bring business innovations to market and make business services more positive for Canadians. (1635) [ English ] This piece of legislation would modernize an essential system of trust that Canadians have been relying on for many years, not thinking about it but taking it for granted.”
“It depends on specialized, purpose-built test equipment and it continues to expand into new areas, as I mentioned, not only electric vehicle charging but also clean fuels and even things like the automation of measurement-based financial transactions. This is really important public service work and it is all in the context of trust. If Canadians can trust the inputs into their economic decisions, they are more likely to trust the outputs. I think this piece of legislation plays a very important role in doing that. [ Translation ] I am going to say a few words in French about the changes outlined in Bill S-3 , an act to amend the Weights and Measures Act, the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act, the Weights and Measures Regulations and the Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations.”
“Electricity and natural gas utilities and other energy suppliers are keenly interested in the legislation, as are other agencies and departments like the Canadian Grain Commission, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Transport Canada and Natural Resources Canada. I am looking across the aisle. I know that some of my friends across the aisle represent some of these communities. Measurement Canada has offices in Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, London, Stoney Creek, Mississauga, Markham, Belleville, Ottawa, where the laboratories and headquarters of Measurement Canada also exist, Montreal, Quebec, Moncton, Dartmouth and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The work is resource-, travel- and labour-intensive.”
“I was at the EV & Charging Expo in Toronto a few weeks ago, making that announcement on behalf of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources . The number of companies that are popping up with digital solutions to our electric vehicle charging demands, needs and potential is truly impressive. Through the amendments to the legislation I am talking about today, we would have the opportunity to catalyze an economy that is coming into being and is ready to do its part for Canadians and to help create new companies on behalf of Canadians. (1630) I have some other facts about Measurement Canada and where it is engaging. I mentioned the electricity sector. The Canadian Gas Association has shown its support for this legislation in its comments when it went through the other place.”
“A fun fact about Measurement Canada is that it was one of the first, or perhaps the first, federal government agency to acquire electrically powered trucks in its fleet. Measurement Canada is on the front line of acquiring an asset that is both good for the planet and good for the pocketbook, but is also on the front line of the work that it is doing. I recently announced on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources , significant funding toward electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Canada. Canadians know that we are coming out with an electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy, as well as a national electricity strategy. These technologies and this work of bringing the electric vehicle experience to as many Canadians as possible requires standards and it requires a different form of measurement.”
“The proposed amendments would allow inspectors to inspect thousands of devices of the same type using any means, including statistical sampling, to align the acts and increase the overall efficiency of the agency's operations. There is a competitiveness to industry with a bill like this. There is also quite a bit of efficiency that can be enabled with this work. I think this kind of legislation is a very interesting window into the full continuum of transportation- and energy-related sectors. We sometimes hear from the other side a celebration only for conventional energy. On this side, we have taken a more well-rounded position that we can have both conventional and clean electricity, and clean energy generated.”
“This set of legislative amendments is part of an attempt to reduce the regulatory burden in the measurement sector, which touches pretty much all goods-servicing sectors. It is also fiscally prudent. We know that when these devices come on board, they come on board in batches and bulk. If we require inspection of every single device, that is an undue burden. If we can inspect a sampling of the devices and ensure that the manufacturing processes of all devices being produced under that line meet a certain quality, then maybe we do not need as much of a burden on inspecting every single device, taking a risk-based approach to inspection work.”
“They want to have regulatory sandboxes or other places where there is equipment to show that their product is available, often Canadian products and digital products, and then find a market for that. If we do that here in Canada through this amendment to the legislation, then we will have created a test bed, a set of experiences for these digital product innovators in particular, as well as other innovators, to then take their market experience, take the effective endorsement that might result from their deployment in the marketplace in this new accelerated way, and then look to export. Another reform we are bringing is to bring in the flexibility to reduce the regulatory burden, which we know takes place in a variety of sectors.”
“The good news is this is not just about regulation and the kinds of changes that we need to make to keep up with the changing digital technologies. This is also about the potential benefit to Canada from the innovation in this sector of measurement, digital measurement in particular. The reforms that we are bringing about here would increase competitiveness. Temporary permissions, for instance, would encourage innovation and allow industry to test out new devices in the marketplace under specific conditions, instead of waiting to be fully evaluated and approved. We hear from our innovators constantly that they want to get their device or product out into the market. They want to have a controlled setting.”
“Smart communities transmit data about electricity and natural gas use in milliseconds. The context of all this is trust. When someone receives a bill for a consumer product that involves some sort of weight or measurement, they want to know that the measurement is correct. In this increasingly digitally connected era, Canadians are somewhat removed. Some of the benefits of this technology are that it allows this work to happen instantaneously, or practically instantaneously, and remotely. Canadians have an expectation that the inputs into the decisions that are informing how much they are paying for any consumer product, whether at the pumps, in their homes or elsewhere, is reliable. (1625) I think it is really important to have a trusted institution like Measurement Canada at the centre of this work.”
“Measurement Canada is at the centre of all this work, and it is really important to point out and to celebrate the hard‑working men and women who do this work on the front lines. These are frontline workers who are doing this work as part of a broader sector of weights and measures and technical professionals. There is a relationship, obviously, to the standards sector. Why are we doing this now? What is the cause? The reality is that devices today have capabilities that were not possible decades ago. They are not strictly mechanical or a very simple digital interface. I referred to that scale at Bloomsbury Cheeses, from my short‑lived time as a cheese retailer. There is now lots more sophistication. Scales now include sensors and lasers. Devices have software updates that happen instantly.”
“On an annual basis, Measurement Canada evaluates and approves around 300 new prototype measuring devices and the technology for use in trade in Canada. Each organization audits and oversees more than 230 authorized service providers and 700 registered technicians to inspect and certify approximately 95% of measuring devices used in trade on its behalf, including all those gas pumps and all these measuring devices in the trucking sector, in the goods movement sector and in the consumer movement sector for all kinds of goods. Obviously, there is a key relationship here with our exports and the need not only to diversify our exports but also to protect ourselves from the tariffs that we are being faced with right now.”
“Why are we bringing this piece of legislation forward today? Conversations about modernizing this act and the other acts started before the COVID era. The hard work to accelerate this work really started in 2023 with Measurement Canada, with 320 hard‑working public servants from coast to coast working on this on the front lines at the gas stations, examining hundreds of devices a year. I just want to pause and give a tribute to the work of Measurement Canada and its workers. On an annual basis, Measurement Canada calibrates and certifies approximately 1,529 standards of mass, volume, temperature, electricity and gas, as well as tests equipment to certify measuring devices. We measure things and we need to test the things themselves that do the measurement.”
“There was a whole lot of infrastructure and a whole lot of process necessary to prepare Canadians for the conversion to metric. Canada's History magazine writes: Chaired by former Canadian Pacific Railway executive Stevenson Gossage, [there was a Metric Commission, which] oversaw more than 100 sector committees that monitored and prepared conversion plans for a wide range of interests and industries. There were problems figuring out which sectors should convert fully and which, especially industries reliant on American materials, should take it slowly. Again, we have this system of weights and measures, which is really the lifeblood of the economy, that is supporting sectors far and wide in the energy space, in the consumer product space, in the retail space and beyond. Why do we need this modernization?”
“It also amends the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act to, among other things, broaden the definition of “meter”, provide the president [of Measurement Canada] with the authority to grant certain exemptions, clarify the steps required to put a device into service, clarify existing powers, duties and functions of the Minister and inspectors, provide the Minister with certain powers, including with respect to sampling when meters are examined and with respect to corrective and preventive measures, and provide inspectors with certain powers. This is a significant modernization of this piece of legislation, which again has not been looked at in a major way since the era of digital measurement, the era of, in fact, our metric system. It takes place in the context of the major 1971 modernization.”
“It is important to outline what we are talking about here in this bill from the other place. It states: This [bill] amends the Weights and Measures Act to, among other things, clarify existing powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Industry and inspectors, provide the Minister with certain powers, including with respect to sampling when devices are examined and with respect to corrective and preventive measures, and provide inspectors with certain powers.”
“Measurement Canada, which used to be called weights and measures Canada, is probably best known by Canadians for those labels on the consumer gas pumps, which we have been visiting. Each of those visits is a bit more painful of late since the war in the Middle East. I am very glad that our government has brought forward measures to bring real excise tax relief in this challenging moment for Canada, and Canadians are seeing the benefits of that. We will see Measurements Canada's work on those consumer gas pumps, but its work spreads far more widely. It touches a number of sectors. It touches energy sectors. It touches export-oriented sectors. This piece of legislation is a very important piece of work that does a couple things. (1620) I will just read from the summary of the bill.”
“Some of us may have lived through those times and remember the kinds of measurements, the kinds of things that were provided in that era, or we may have parents or grandparents who lived through those times. Canadians embraced the metric system. It it not just for athletic measurement. It is for all kinds of measurement. The U.S. remains a bit of an outlier, although in the trade system we will notice that the Americans, in fact, do adopt the metric system. This is about trust. This is about the trust of the tools and the information that is provided in this very key part of the goods-facing economy. Measurement Canada, is a significant organization of 320 hard-working Canadians from coast to coast to coast, with offices in many communities in our country.”
“Section 91.17 of the BNA Act, now the Constitution Act, puts the responsibility for weights and measures solely in the federal eye. In 1873, we had the first Weights and Measures Act of Parliament. That set up the system for the kind of work that is done to help the economy operate in a smooth way and in a very important way. Of course, we may remember the most recent major amendment that was done before the set of amendments we are talking about now, which was the 1971 set of amendments to the Weights and Measures Act, which very crucially, and I think to the ultimate satisfaction of most Canadians, recognized the use of the metric system in Canada. It also required metric measurements on most product labels.”
“Perhaps it was a good sign that retail was neither my forte nor the sector I should be in. I was soon dismissed by both the customer and Bloomsbury Cheeses. However, that was a good reminder of the trust that is needed in this sector. It is also a good reminder and a good opportunity to mention two of the very finest cheese shops in my riding of Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park, the Cheese Boutique, a legendary cheese shop on Ripley Avenue, as well as the Thin Blue Line in my neighbourhood of Roncesvalles on Roncesvalles Avenue. This work of weights and measures is really related to trust, especially when we are amending a piece of legislation like this, which is related to an organization that goes back to the 1870s. In fact, weights and measures are in the Canadian Constitution.”
“The first act of work in any retail business that involves a deli with meat or cheese of any kind is to put the cheese on the scale. I remember putting that cheese on the scale, whether it was Cornish yarg, a nice Stilton or a Lancashire. In the English context, people love their cheeses and they love their English cheeses. I would engage with customers. The customers would look at what was provided, what the weight of the item was and how much it cost. We used to put a little piece of wax paper under the cheese to make sure the cheese was not contaminating the scale and vice versa. I remember one customer asking me, “Well, what's the weight of that wax paper? Are you charging me for the wax paper and not just the cheese?” I did not have a good response for that customer.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure, as I mentioned, to speak to this bill, which came from the other place. This bill is a significant set of amendments to our weights and measurement system. It is a set of amendments that really looks to modernize our trade instrumentation, which is so important to the smooth functioning of our economy, the information of consumers and the clarity and transparency needed by businesses and consumers alike. This brings to mind my first experience of this as a worker in the weights and measures system. I was a new arrival in London, England, on a working visa and chose to find employment, as many people do. I got a job at a cheese shop called Bloomsbury Cheeses in London, England.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to speak to this bill, which has come to us from the other place and would amend various acts related to weights and measures here in Canada. This piece of legislation is in the context of the historic work of this organization.”
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question, but I would advise that the demand for this kind of capability is exactly why we are responding with this legislation. Here is what Kepler had to say: “It is essential that Canada's sovereign launch capability is globally competitive so it can meet domestic Department of National Defence requirements while also serving global launch demands.” Eutelsat also relied on American firms and facilities to launch 20 satellites. It said that it “always welcomes the prospect of new entrants into the launcher market to increase the options for access to space.” It is the building up of supply that we are doing, in part through the legislation we are enabling here today, that enables the sovereign launch capability we have and also attracts new investment.”
“Mr. Speaker, I welcome my colleague's question and his work. He represents an economic region where the aerospace and aviation sectors are very important and where we can train the students who are the future of these sectors. [ English ] In exactly the way the hon. member described, in a continental context with our peers and with our partners that we do this essential work with, we have all the ingredients, except we lack the sovereign launch capability. This sovereign launch capability that we would be building through our sectors and through this legislation would attract yet more investment, yet more expertise and yet more excitement, and it is all part of the work we need to do to have sovereign launch.”
“Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague for Northumberland—Clarke is familiar with how legislation and regulations work. We bring legislation forward, and then regulations are developed under that. I know there is a strong commitment to safety in this kind of work. The people and the professionals who are involved in this work take the safety pieces extremely seriously. It is part of a broader ecosystem of companies, in fact, that are working on this. The sovereign capabilities that we would be building through this act would take care of that situation.”
“I want to conclude by reminding us of the vision that is required here, with a quote by Langston Hughes, in the Dalton McGuinty book Be a Good One : Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. In this legislation, we are giving Canadians from coast to coast the opportunity to fly. It is a great opportunity and a great piece of legislation. I commend it to the members of the House.”
“Recently, I had the pleasure and the opportunity as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry to visit Western University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Victoria, all campuses and locations that have this research energy but also student energy toward the space launch capabilities that this act would be building. I think my colleagues are going to share some of the other very specific benefits of this legislation, the economic benefits and the regional benefits. We are not going to have our own Kennedy Space Center or our own Cape Canaveral, but we can have versions of those places that people are proud of, that we can launch from and identify with.”
“We felt our hearts beat as the capsule came toppling through the atmosphere and then cheered when those first parachutes came up. It is those moments that are inspiring students across Canada. At the Artemis II space launch event that I attended with Let's Talk Science at the University of Toronto, I met a group of undergraduate students who were starting a rocket club, the second rocket club on campus. There was already a rocket club for the engineers, and this was a group of arts students and science students who were going to have their own rocket club. There are students who are joining competitions and getting course credits. They are building the kind of excitement and economy that would be supported by this act.”
“Can we do this better?” He was imagining something that had never been done, except by a giant corporation and a giant space agency, the biggest entities in the world. He decided to move into space because of his inspiration and because of the capital he had to deploy. We know, and I know from teaching those students, that that effort, that imagination, that ambition inspired them and other Canadians. Now we have other inspirations that are not just from Elon Musk and are not just American. NordSpace itself is an inspiration. The astronauts I mentioned earlier are an inspiration. It is lighting a fire and an interest on campuses across Canada. I was recently at an Artemis II space launch celebration gathering. There were gatherings across Canada for both the launch and the landing.”
“I was talking about space, and there is a lot of interest in space this year, and these kinds of sovereign launch capabilities have a relationship to some of our deep space missions, but even the near-Earth orbit that would probably be the more daily subject of this piece of legislation also creates its own inspiration. A number of years ago, when I was teaching at what was then Ryerson University, now Toronto Metropolitan University, I assigned a biography of Elon Musk to my students as an example of, at the time, some of the ways in which he was pushing the frontiers. There is a very fascinating chapter in the Elon Musk biography by Ashlee Vance on his work with SpaceX and the frontiers he was pushing with the scientists and the engineers in his company, saying, “Can we do this faster?”
“In the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy articulated a national mission, and that attracted resources and energy. Obviously, the U.S. administration and NASA were very involved in leading that effort. It is the connection between government action and inspiration that I want to draw members' attention to. By saying we are going to have sovereign space launch, I mean we are going to make space for more of the NordSpaces of the world to, again, as described in the legislation, launch rockets and launch vehicles that were not earlier contemplated in legislation. This creates the space for young people, like the woman from 631 Sentinel squadron, to then get into that sector.”
“They are a really important part of the space sector and the inspiration that is coming in this year of space for Canada. It is not just the astronauts. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting some young people who were employed by NordSpace, which is one of the companies looking to do, and that has done, some very successful tests around rocket launches in Canada. I met one of them at a recent Next Generation Manufacturing conference. She came into the sector through the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, specifically 631 Sentinel squadron in Scarborough. She told me that once one has a taste of aerospace, it never goes away. (1545) We are building a sector that is inspiring hundreds of thousands of Canadians. It is a sector they want to join. When there is an appetite or an interest, what does government do to serve that interest?”
“She is also the youngest Canadian astronaut and a huge source of pride, motivation and inspiration, not just to women and girls, but to Canadians across the country who can say that they can do this, that they can go into space. I also want to draw the attention of members to Joshua Kutryk. We are sending a second Canadian astronaut into space at the end of this year, to the International Space Station on another mission. He is going to be in space for around six months. We respect the personal cost, the sacrifice and training he has had to go through, the running of scientific experiments and the extent to which he is subjecting himself to that experimentation. We thank him. These astronauts, these heroes for Canadians, are heroes they might have seen earlier in movies and are now able to watch on television in these missions.”
“I forgot to mention that I will be sharing my time with the member for Peace River—Westlock. My enthusiasm for this mission and all things space in this moment is very heightened. I apologize for that brief oversight. It is not just the inspiration. When one is in space, one cannot do what my friend from British Columbia would like me to do in this moment. When one is on a mission, one has to keep going. Our friend Colonel Hansen definitely did that. I want to draw attention to the Artemis II mission, and I mentioned Colonel Hansen. Two other astronauts had a key role. One was Jenni Gibbons on Artemis II. She was in mission control. She was officially one of the backups on the mission, so she had to be ready. She went through the exact same training as the other astronauts.”
“The Canadian space launch act sets up a position where we can imagine vehicles we did not have as deployable resources, imagining a sector that is emerging, but needs some regulatory shape to it, and bringing it into life. I think that, very crucially, the legislation does a very good job of balancing the need to promote risk-taking and the gathering and deployment of resources across Canada with the appropriate supervision of the minister, the departments and others, but with the right calibration toward risk-taking and setting into motion an industry that already exists. However, from a G7 perspective, the very specific things we want to do in this sector we are not doing as much in Canada as other G7 partners. The Canadian Space Agency is a key partner in the Artemis II mission. The European Space Agency is very much involved as well.”