GATINEAU, Que. — Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi and Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar announced Wednesday at Space Canada’s SpaceBound conference that they are founding a non-partisan Parliamentary Space Caucus to carry the space industry’s case to Parliament and the government.
Majumdar, who represents Calgary Heritage, said the caucus would rest on three pillars: space security, space prosperity and space cooperation. “Space obviously is going to define our country and its potential in the next half century and beyond,” he told the conference.
Naqvi, the MP for Ottawa Centre, said the work was about economic growth, defence and “the sovereignty of Canada,” which is why a Conservative and a Liberal were starting it together. He said the two would reach out in the coming days to members of the House of Commons and the Senate, and work with industry and Space Canada, the national industry association, to bring “your voices forward in all the policy and legislative decisions that need to be made.”
Brian Gallant, Space Canada’s chief executive, hosted the announcement and called it “great to see bipartisan support for space.”
Lobbyists inside Parliament
In an interview with SpaceQ after the announcement, Naqvi said specialty caucuses like this one do two jobs: they educate other parliamentarians “so that you have allies when these things are being discussed,” and they advocate to the government for what members hear from industry.
“We’re sort of elected, so we’re lobbyists who are in the lobby, if I can say those words,” he said. That gives members “far more direct access to speak to government ministers,” he added, as well as to opposition critics.
Membership will be open to any MP or senator who wants to take part, Naqvi said.
Naqvi expects the space launch bill back soon
Bill C-28, the Canadian Space Launch Act, is still at second reading in the House, where Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon opened debate on April 28. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly told SpaceBound on Tuesday, the day she announced $15 million for Xona, that the bill would put “laws and regulations in place” for launches from Nova Scotia.
“It’ll be coming back for debate very soon,” Naqvi said, noting that the House has sat only 10 days since it returned in September. Asked whether the bill could receive royal assent by the end of the spring sitting, he said it was “hard for me to sort of speculate on the timelines,” but called it priority government legislation and said he was “hopeful that it will work through in a speedy fashion.”
Bills like C-28 are why the two MPs wanted a caucus, Naqvi said, “so that we can be engaged in shaping and passing of these bills.”