Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today.

I'm Josipa Petrunic. I'm the president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium. It's a long name, but we go by CUTRIC.

CUTRIC is a special kind of non-profit organization. I'm going to start off today by giving you a sense of some of the major projects we've launched that have had an impact on the economy and that give us a pathway forward for the green recovery that, as Canadians, we all want.

CUTRIC is the only organization in North America today that represents members from the transit sector, the manufacturing sector, the electrical and natural gas utility sector, the academic sector, and the software and technology sector. When you put that all together, it means that as a non-profit we basically do technology projects, so we operate a lot like a technology start-up in terms of our innovative and creative thinking. That's exactly what's needed in order to transform our current transit and transportation fleet into a low-carbon smart mobility economy for Canadians.

As we're focused on transforming the transportation and energy matrix that defines how Canadians move, the transit and mobility options we have available to us today and the pollution and operational costs associated with those options, CUTRIC is really aligned with the goal of establishing Canada as a leader in low-carbon smart mobility technology, innovation, design and deployment.

Based on that unique structure, we have been able to design otherwise impossible projects and launch them in Canada today, which is proof of the potential of the green economy that this country can build post-pandemic. We've already been able to help make the country a global leader in the design and deployment of several key low-carbon smart mobility tech projects.

As an example, several years ago, when it wasn't popular to do so, we were able to pull together leading transit agencies, manufacturers and utilities to launch the pan-Canadian electric bus demonstration and integration project. We launched that with TransLink in Vancouver, with Brampton Transit in York region, north of Toronto, and with competitive manufacturers Nova Bus and New Flyer, both electric bus manufacturers in Canada, and Siemens and ABB, both high-powered charging system manufacturers with significant footprints in Canada.

These kinds of projects also integrate the utilities. In this particular project, we integrated B.C. Hydro and Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution as utilities in a global first, to demonstrate for the first time in the world that you can create interoperable, standardized electric bus technology in Canada, deploy it in Canada and attract foreign direct investment in this space.

We are leading similar projects in hydrogen fuel cell bus integration in this country right now, with Mississauga and a data partnership intended with Winnipeg Transit. We're leading an effort to get small, autonomous low-speed shuttles out the door in Markham and in Stratford, in order to make sure that there's transit not only in our urban communities but in our suburban and rural communities as well.

From coast to coast to coast, not only our membership and our staff but also our board of directors recognize that the large-scale procurement and deployment of electrified transit systems using battery power, hydrogen fuel cell technologies and renewable natural gas technologies, along with autonomous and connected shuttles, will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country, which they're already doing. We know that by integrating data analytics and cybersecurity into these systems, we will be fostering the growth of clusters of high-paid jobs in a competency that is needed worldwide.

In sum, low-carbon smart mobility is a critical area for Canadians. The use of shared smart mobility in mass transit systems has certainly dipped during the pandemic, but don't be fooled. It is critical that we recognize that transit is coming back. There is no doubt our cities will come roaring back. We must recognize that, even pre-pandemic, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Brampton, Quebec City and Montreal were already struggling to move enough people over enough distance to advance our economy efficiently, from both an economic and a human quality of life perspective.

The pandemic has actually given transit agencies the opportunity to breathe, the room to prepare for complex technologies like zero-emissions, connected, autonomous and data-driven technologies. Cities are not going back. Transit is not going back.

The expectation is that the federal government will be a partner in the effort to build a better life for Canadians. Without good mobility systems, we would be otherwise failing our people, and this is both for urban and rural communities. The government has already taken promising steps with transit investments in the clean sector economy. This has been critical: $15 billion in permanent transit funding and $2.75 billion in dedicated ZEV technology for zero-emissions buses. It is complex, but over time it does save money.

In conclusion, I'd like to note that investing in the greening of our transit systems will create jobs in the economy. It is already doing so. I am proof of it. My team is proof of it, and the hundreds of companies and organizations we represent across this country are proof of it.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to being able to answer your questions.

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