Industry committee  No. In the end, of course, companies make their own decisions, but it's based on a very global landscape and based on how attractive other nations make themselves to foreign investments.

Industry committee  If I may add something, this stresses the importance for government to have a longer-term strategy towards space and the capabilities that are needed in Canada and have to be developed, because our companies need to be able to know in advance and plan according to what these priorities will be.

Industry committee  We've consulted with our members, and what they say is very clear: the aerospace industry needs both. We need SR and ED to plan long-term investment plans or programs. It's more a long-term instrument, whereas SADI is going to help fund transformational technologies in the company, so they really do complement each other.

Industry committee  I am not sure what you are referring to. I did not know that the aircraft had to be tested outside Canada. Could you please tell us more about that?

Industry committee  It is possible, but we have not heard of any concerns.

Industry committee  No, we have not.

Industry committee  When a program is announced, there is no question that companies in the space industry have to get ready to deliver some of the production when they receive the mandate to do so. If the funding does not come, those companies will have to make some internal decisions to reflect the reality.

Industry committee  SR and ED is the number one R and D instrument utilized by the aerospace industry. It comes even before SADI. However, I believe that one of the intentions of the government is to lower the rate from 20% to 15% but to increase direct support, direct investment—

Industry committee  That is correct. When we own the intellectual property, we can perform work at the highest level on the platforms that we purchase. So we are talking about engineering work, not just aircraft maintenance. It means engineering. It also means looking for solutions to problems that can arise after a certain number of flying hours, or before problems arise, relying on tests that can be done jointly with research institutes, and so on.

Industry committee  In military procurement, there are clearly a lot of benefits when the government uses data and intellectual property so that we can use it and make it available to our companies. Since you have many companies in your riding, you are probably aware that this gives them the opportunity to build on this intellectual property and to develop solutions that can then be exported to other countries on platforms to which the intellectual property applies.

Industry committee  Could I add a comment about SADI? We really want to make the point that simple changes to the terms and conditions could result in more IP generation in Canada and more investment in R and D. There are several examples whereby companies will not subscribe to SADI because of the terms and conditions, which basically cost very little to change.

Industry committee  This is a study done by Boeing, and there's one also by Deloitte. They do it annually, and it's on a 20-year timeframe.

Industry committee  Yes. Those are commercial aircraft.

Industry committee  It's only the commercial segment of aeronautics, yes.

Industry committee  Yes. It prevents the flow or the transfer of IP when that flow is strategically important for a company.