NEWS RELEASES

November 23, 2004 (3:40 p.m. EST) No. 136

CANADA TABLES LEGISLATION REGULATING REMOTE SENSING SPACE SYSTEMS

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced the introduction of legislation that will regulate the operation of remote sensing space systems. The legislation is aimed at protecting Canada’s national security, national defence and foreign policy interests, while supporting our continued leadership in the provision of satellite remote sensing data and services to government and private clients.

“This Act will regulate the operation of Canadian remote sensing satellites and ensure these instruments and the information they produce are not used against the interests of Canadians,” said Minister Pettigrew. “The legislation will serve to protect the safety of Canadians and our allies.”

“Satellite remote sensing is an important industry that provides Canadians with tools for monitoring the environment and managing natural resources, as well as information supporting critical activities such as coastal surveillance and ice reconnaissance,” said David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency.

“Canada is a world leader in remote sensing satellite technology,” said Bill Graham, Minister of National Defence. “This legislation will serve to protect our national defence and security interests by ensuring that adequate measures are in place to regulate the dissemination of images taken by Canadian satellites.”

The proposed legislation will continue to help develop an internationally competitive Canadian space industry. By providing a clear framework in which private remote sensing activities can evolve, this legislation will help ensure Canadian companies remain global leaders in remote sensing technology and services.

Features of the proposed legislation would grant the Minister of Foreign Affairs the ability to license the operation of remote sensing satellite systems and to regulate the distribution of data and products produced by these systems. It would permit Canadian companies to own and operate remote sensing satellites, while providing the Government of Canada with the authority to order priority access or the interruption of normal service in order to protect national security, defence or international relations interests and to observe international obligations. The legislation also defines the powers of government departments and agencies to monitor and enforce compliance in a manner that is both effective and efficient.

Canadian remote sensing satellites provide important information on the distribution of groundwater, minerals and oil and gas deposits, oceanography, cartography, geology, hydrology, agriculture, forestry and disaster response and mitigation. High-performance remote sensing space systems, which may possess both civil and military capabilities, can be used to enhance Canada’s security and assert sovereignty, especially in remote areas.

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A backgrounder is attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Sébastien Théberge
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada
(613) 995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca

Carole Duval
Communications Advisor
Canadian Space Agency
(450) 926-4370

Isabelle Savard
Communications Director
Office of the Minister of National Defence
(613) 996-3100

Backgrounder

CANADA’S REMOTE SENSING SPACE SYSTEMS ACT

On November 23, 2004, under the joint sponsorship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Industry, the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act was introduced in the House of Commons.

The proposed legislation will continue to help develop an internationally competitive Canadian space industry. By providing a clear framework in which private remote sensing activities can evolve, this legislation will help ensure Canadian companies remain global leaders in remote sensing technology and services.

The proposed legislation affirms an earlier June 1999 government announcement to regulate commercial remote sensing space systems in order to address Canadian security, defence and foreign policy issues with the development of high-performance remote sensing satellites. The proposed legislation observes the June 2000 Canada-United States Agreement Concerning the Operation of Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite Systems commitments, and is comparable to similar legislation in the U.S.

The 2000 Canada-U.S. Agreement aimed to ensure that private remote sensing satellite systems would be controlled in each country in such a manner as to protect shared national security and foreign policy interests, while promoting the commercial benefits to be derived from these systems. The Agreement recognized that Canada and the U.S. have mutual interests in regulating and controlling private remote sensing satellite systems operating from their respective territories or subject to their respective jurisdictions.

The Remote Sensing Space Systems Act tabled in the House of Commons will grant the Minister of Foreign Affairs the ability to license the operation of remote sensing satellite systems and to regulate the distribution of data and products produced by these systems.

The legislation will permit Canadian companies to own and operate remote sensing satellite systems, while providing the Government of Canada with the authority to order priority access or the interruption of normal service in order to protect national security, defence or international relations interests and to observe international obligations. As well, the necessary powers to monitor and enforce compliance in a manner that is both effective and efficient is contained in the proposed legislation.

Canada has for decades been both a pioneering force and a recognized global leader in the design, manufacture and operation of state-of-the-art, innovative satellite technology.

Canadian remote sensing satellites provide important information on the distribution of groundwater, minerals and oil and gas deposits, oceanography, cartography, geology, hydrology, agriculture, forestry and disaster response and mitigation. High-performance remote sensing space systems, which may possess both civil and military capabilities, can be used to enhance Canada’s security and assert sovereignty, especially in remote areas.

In addition to authorizing Canadian companies to own and operate remote sensing satellites, the legislation would also permit the reception, storage and processing of data collected by Canadian satellites and the distribution of this information to potential clients without compromising the national security, national defence and foreign policy interests of Canada. The Act will also apply the same law to systems of Her Majesty in right of Canada and of the provinces.

Natural resource industries currently make use of satellite images to monitor crop and forest growth and to gain insights into the distribution of groundwater, minerals and oil and gas deposits. Canadian government and industrial decision makers are demanding better-quality data to generate greater economic opportunity in various fields, including ice reconnaissance, coastal surveillance, oceanography, cartography, geology, environmental monitoring, hydrology, agriculture, forestry and disaster response and mitigation.

Canada is a world leader in the design, construction and operation of high-performance civilian remote sensing satellites using a microwave radar system called synthetic aperture radar. Canada is also in the forefront of processing, analyzing and exploiting data produced by high-performance imaging satellites for use in cartography, land use and natural resources management, reconnaissance and surveillance of the Earth. RADARSAT-1 is currently in its 10th year of operation in orbit, and RADARSAT-2, Canada’s first privately owned and operated satellite, is scheduled for launch from the U.S. in 2005.