Defence spending a boon for business: Joly

Ottawa’s minister of industry encouraged Manitoba businesses to pay close attention to upcoming procurement processes as the federal government rolls out its new defence industrial strategy.

All provinces have a role to play as the Canadian government invests billions of dollars in defending the country, in a plan that aims to use defence investment to leverage the Canadian economy and jobs, Liberal MP Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville) said Wednesday morning in Winnipeg.

She addressed a crowd of almost 250 business executives and politicians at a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce event at the RBC Convention Centre.

The Canadian government plans to invest $500 billion in defence by 2035 and create 125,000 jobs along the way, Joly said.

“Our plan is to give you all the tools to be able to have access to this generational investment, and together we can create thousands of jobs across the country,” Joly told the crowd.

“The ball is in the court of the government and we will do our work. But the ball is also in your court, to be able — if you’re a big company — to have access to this procurement and do the work, but also to work with smaller companies to really create a supply chain that is a real Canadian one.”

During a fireside chat with Chuck Davidson, president of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, Joly invited businesses in the province to contact Doug Guzman, chief executive officer of Canada’s new Defence Investment Agency, and to attend upcoming “defence fairs” that will be held across the country.

Joly encouraged businesses to work with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce to create relationships with the federal government.

She praised Magellan Aerospace’s Winnipeg division as an example of a local business doing good work that will potentially receive federal contracts and grow as a result.

When asked by Davidson what role post-secondary institutions have to play in Canada’s defence industrial strategy, Joly said that universities and colleges should work alongside the private sector to create programs that will train students for the roles that Manitoba businesses are looking to fill.

Davidson concluded the event by asking Joly if she has a message to build the confidence of Manitoba businesses, given the ongoing trade war with the United States and the upcoming Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement renewal in July.

“We can’t control the White House,” Joly said. “(U.S. President Donald Trump) will continue to make his own decisions, and we will be at the table for the revision of CUSMA. But at the same time, we know that… this investment in defence is our way to create economic stimulus — to create stability at a time where there’s going to be uncertainty.”

During his opening remarks, Davidson described the federal government’s strategy as a long-term industrial strategy aimed at rebuilding domestic capacity, strengthening supply chains and ensuring that Canadians can build and innovate at home.

“For Manitoba’s business community, that matters,” he said. “It signals sustained demand, serious investment and real opportunity, particularly for our aerospace, manufacturing, logistics, arctic and critical mineral sectors.”

Following Davidson’s introduction, Ron Drepaul, general manager of Magellan Aerospace in Winnipeg, gave a short speech that ended with encouraging words for Manitoba businesses.

Magellan manufactures and repairs thousands of exhaust frames for aircraft used by the United States Navy, and manufactures the horizontal tail for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 strike fighter, Drepaul noted. The company has also produced rockets for NASA and built five satellites that are currently orbiting Earth.

Everything Magellan manufactures is the result of strong relationships with governments, educational institutions in Manitoba, and suppliers and customers around the globe, Drepaul said.

“I believe in Manitoba, we have the capability, the talent and the strong industrial community to service not only the current needs, but the future needs of Canada,” he said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca