Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning.

My name is John Stuart, and I'm vice-president of business development for COM DEV International, which is Canada's largest space product manufacturing company. We employ about 1,200 people in seven locations around the world. Our headquarters and main manufacturing facility are in Cambridge, Ontario, but we have a significant capacity here in Ottawa.

We actually dominate certain niche areas in the space technology area. You will find COM DEV equipment flying on most telecommunications satellites. In fact, you've probably heard the term “Intel Inside”. Well, it's “COM DEV on board”. It's a great position to be in for a Canadian company.

We were founded in 1974. We began life in Dorval and moved to Cambridge, not far from colleagues over there, to take advantage of the technology triangle. As is the case for many companies in the high-tech area, our assets walk on two feet and they leave the building every evening, so we need to, if anything, recognize that our strength is in the talent of our Canadian employees. We are constantly able to harness the skills and the energy of graduates from our universities and technical colleges. I just absolutely agree with what was said earlier.

I'm a space cadet, and I am here to press the case for space, if you like. Canada has a proud heritage and history in space, and we're reminded every time we pull out a five-dollar note. There you see the Canadarm, and indeed we were all delighted when Chris Hadfield burst into song on the international space station. These are truly nation-building moments.

But in line with this committee's focus on disruptive technology within the industry portfolio, I want to focus on new space developments and the massive potential for economic benefit to Canada's space industry, which can create wealth, new jobs, and new opportunities from investment in space innovation and space-based technology applications.

I've been part of the Canadian space community for more than 25 years. I'm passionate about my industry and about its future. When I look back—and I ask you to look back—it's absolutely amazing to reflect on how space has become so much a part of our everyday lives. It's so pervasive in fact that we run the danger of taking it for granted. I estimate that some aspect of space touches each and every one of our lives about 30 times a day. For example, from the time we get up in the morning, switch on the news, delivered by satellite probably, and we hear the weather forecast. Where was that generated? We get in our car, switch on the GPS, or not, to see where the traffic is. We go to a bank and we withdraw cash from an ATM using technology delivered by satellite, and so on throughout the day until we go home, turn on the hockey game, and where is that delivered from? My point is that the reliance on space and the demand for space-based activity is everywhere and it's increasing every day.

Today the pace of change is truly remarkable. A few years ago, in some government circles it was argued that satellite communications was a mature market and therefore did not require any intervention or investment from government. There are always going to be conflicting priorities for the use of scarce investment resources and difficult choices have to be made, but sometimes we don't get those choices right.

At a time when Canada reduced its investment in this kind of technology, our competitors in Europe and other G-7 countries were actually increasing it. Even though it was a period of austerity, they were putting money in, recognizing the pace of change that this makes, and recognizing that the market is very dynamic and there is a constant demand for broadband interconnectivity for high-definition TV. I could go on and list a few more things, but I am very pleased to report that the Canadian Space Agency has now recognized the importance of this dynamic sector and is taking steps to confirm the case for space.

I also acknowledge with gratitude that the government and Minister Moore made specific provisions in the recent budget announcement for investments in satellite telecommunications and also technology development in partnership with our European friends and partners. This was a very timely action indeed, as a tremendous opportunity exists.

I could run through the list of applications and the benefits of technology that is in my written testimony, but in the interest of time, I will make the plea that we are faced with a fantastically fast, expanding market. The yield from investment in space is very high. It outperforms the normal industrial yield or even high technology yield in terms of bang for the buck—twenty times return and so on. The industrial space sector in Canada has generated a cumulative revenue of over $2.6 billion. I can only say that this is going to move at a faster and faster pace and we need to keep pace. There is a danger that if we don't continue our investment, we will not only not be able to sustain our capability, we will not be able to grow.

In conclusion, Canada's space industry is poised to play a very significant role in the exciting transformational and innovative future, which I maintain represents a very sound investment for any government. I commend it to this committee.

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