New Canadian Space Agency president Lisa Campbell appeared before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) in late October as a formality upon being appointed to her position. The INDU meeting, now virtual, is generally a friendly event for these types of Order in Council appointment confirmations. But the Q&A is sometimes an opportunity for politics to get partisan, which was the case this time, but Campbell was prepared.
It’s clear from her early public appearances that Lisa Campbell is always prepared. She knows what to say, when to say it, though in a very bureaucratic way.
Campbell’s prepared statement is below and the full meeting transcript is available on the INDU committee website.
The first question for Campbell was the most politically charged. It came from Liberal MP Mr. Ali Ehsassi (Willowdale) who asked “Since 2015, we’ve seen the government invest approximately $2.5 billion in CSA, but prior to that — especially given that you were explaining to us its social and economic benefits — we saw CSA suffer cutbacks and employee layoffs. Could you tell me what the impact of those cutbacks prior to 2015 were on the CSA?”
The context here is that the Liberal government announced in February 2019 a $2.05 billion commitment over 24 years to a lunar program, while the Conservative government in power before 2015 had cut the CSA’s base budget starting in 2010. I will point out that the Liberal government never did increase the CSA’s base budget back to what it was.
Here’s Campbell’s reply;
I wasn’t there then, but I have heard from people how difficult any cutbacks are.
I will share with you that when we look at our funding over time and at the spending happening around the world, it really is a new space economy, with governments and the private sector, as you’ve seen, investing heavily in all sorts of areas: space exploration, low-earth orbit, acquiring sources of data.
Canada needs to position itself to keep up with that, in our view. That means having sufficient in-house expertise to oversee contracts when we hire services but also sustaining the pace we have set for ourselves internationally.
Canada really punches above our weight. If we think about some of the tables we are invited to, I was recently at the International Astronautical Congress, and for a relatively small country, Canada has a great reputation for what we bring to the table, including our deep expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence. We are a reliable and trusted partner and we want to preserve that, not only for the work we are able to do but also for our economy.
The Canadian space economy generates close to $6 billion a year in revenue, $2.5 in GDP, and employs directly 10,000 people, mostly in STEM jobs, which are, as you know, very high-paying jobs, and then indirectly another 11,000 people.
As I mentioned in my remarks, this is a sector of the economy that’s expected to grow. We do worry about spending in the future. If we look at G7 countries, we had been around the middle of the pack and now we’re toward the bottom. It is something that I hear a lot about from very dedicated people who work at the agency. Thank you.
This is a good answer and it shows that she’s knowledgeable and prepared. Campbell is also aware of, and makes mention, that in terms of spending, Canada is still falling behind its counterparts. That should be a concern for everyone in the space community. It’s why people need to understand that while $2.05 billion in funding is definitely a positive thing, and it makes for a great sound bite, it’s over 24 years. That’s a long time. That funding includes $150 million over 5 years for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program. That money is already committed. The other $1.9 billion, a little of which is being allocated now, is not guaranteed. And over 24 years, that’s an average of $79.2 million each year.
As usual, the space community still has its work cut out to make sure that those who control the funds, understand the benefits to Canadians and the economy, in trying to get new programs funded.
From the public appearances I’ve seen of Campbell, not many mind you, I think it’s too early to tell how effective she’ll be at leading the CSA. Since Campbell is well aware of the funding issues, it will be interesting to see if she has a strong enough case, based on input from the community, to go to bat for them.
There were several other questions directed at Campbell but they were mostly benign.
I’ll note that this week I had the opportunity to interview Campbell for the first time. I asked her about Ehsassi’s question. You can listen to her response in the next episode of the Space Economy podcast available next Monday.
CSA president Lisa Campbell prepared statement to the INDU committee Oct. 29, 2020
Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you virtually. I hope that each of you and also your families are doing well.
I joined the Canadian Space Agency, or CSA, in September of this year. A lawyer by profession for almost the past three decades, I’ve worked in both public and private sectors. I have experience in the areas of competition enforcement, data regulation and procurement, among others.
I’m joined today by my colleagues, Luc Brûlé, vice-president, science and technology, and Mary Preville, acting vice-president, space program policy.
If you will bear with me, I’ll just change the language for the interpreters.
The CSA has accomplished extraordinary things, and we believe that the space sector can contribute enormously to Canada’s economic renewal during these unprecedented times.
The CSA’s work focuses on three areas.
First, and perhaps most visible, are activities in space exploration. We lead Canada’s participation on the International Space Station, the Canadian astronaut program, and scientific missions to explore our solar system.
Second is a growing area of investment and interest worldwide, which is the rich data from earth-observation satellites that help us understand our planet, how to manage our natural resources and more. Increasingly, we can maximize high-quality space data to serve and protect Canadians and spur innovation and economic development. The speed of commercial satellite deployment, implementation of faster communication technologies and onset of interplanetary missions are augmenting the role of data in space industries. Our RADARSAT constellation mission is part of this trend. Its three-satellite configuration provides data for climate research, security and commercial applications. Unlocking the power of this data is vital to Canada’s competitiveness globally.
Third, we work to support science and technology in a multitude of areas, including optics, health, robotics, satellite communications and radar. We’re growing this innovative sector in Canada and preparing for new missions.
In 2019, the government launched a new space strategy for Canada: exploration, imagination and innovation. With the brilliant CSA team, we’re advancing the space program in Canada and, internationally, positioning our domestic space industry for success. The return on investment in space is massive, and it’s a growth sector. In the next 20 years, the global space economy will nearly triple in size, reaching a trillion dollars. At the CSA, we’re committed to positioning Canadian researchers, entrepreneurs and investors to seize their share of this new, emerging global market. We want to help them contribute to the global economic recovery, while continuing to secure socioeconomic benefits here at home.
In recent months, we’ve been doing extensive outreach with industry, academia and international counterparts. We’ve participated in international conferences of the G20 space community and the International Astronautical Congress. Like the rest of the world, we’re gearing up for exciting missions to the moon and beyond.
We’re proud to have secured Canada’s participation in the next large-scale international space collaboration—the lunar gateway program—by contributing our Canadarm3. We’re also among eight nations to sign the Artemis Accords a few weeks ago, which we believe will help create a transparent environment for space exploration, science and commercial space activities. We’re continuing to support cutting-edge space-exploration technologies, such as artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, health and more, which will be demonstrated on future missions to the lunar surface.
These investments have allowed Canada to play critical roles on internationally led missions, such as OSIRIS-REx, which some of you may have seen in the news recently. We just collected a sample from the surface of an asteroid. Canada’s crucial contribution was recognized worldwide, with our expertise ensuring the success of the mission.
In a country as vast as ours, observing earth from space helps us support Canadians, exercise sovereignty and manage our natural resources. Advances in machine learning, big-data analytics and data integration techniques are revolutionizing the field of earth observation at a time when there is more demand for detailed information about our planet.
We are daring to imagine a future where Canadians across the country, from any sector, have unlimited access to easy-to-use digital platforms; where data is turned into information to, for example, issue advance warning for air quality and disaster management; where cities can plan greener infrastructure projects more efficiently; where regulators or industry can detect infrastructure failures; and where farmers can visualize crop conditions and crop yields, predicting market pricing and perhaps leading to better management for anticipated transportation bottlenecks.
Today we have elements of this vision in place. Our experience with the RADARSAT program, which today is capturing 250,000 radar images of the earth, means we have a great base on which to grow. We’ll equip Canada with the data and analytical tools needed for the future.
Like sectors across the planet, the space sector has been impacted by COVID-19 and the measures needed to contain the pandemic. We’ve reprioritized some of our activities and funding to ensure that industry and academia can continue to innovate and seize opportunities.
Since March, we’ve doubled short-term financial investments in our science and technology programs, representing an increase of $25 million over existing plans pre-pandemic and a total investment of $52 million over 2 years.
These efforts will benefit up to 90 projects in large, medium and small companies, as well as 12 universities from coast to coast. It will advance promising space technology, and support R and D and the development of innovative concepts, helping develop talent and positioning the sector for success.
Space exploration technologies are at the epicentre of scientific development. Among the many motivations for space exploration, advancing scientific knowledge and understanding is increasingly crucial for our society. Intrinsic value flows from it, and space science is a rich avenue because of the challenges it poses, forcing us to look up and out in completely novel ways. Increasing access to space innovation and research with the new environments and situations, the vast unknowns, that space offers stress tests our systems and beliefs.
Improvements in science inevitably lead to progress in other areas, and as we start employing them wherever science gets used, it generates public good and creates new industries.
I see the time signal. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Through space exploration, we better understand ourselves, our planet and our universe.
Thank you for your time.