Canada Election 2019 – The Space Sector Opportunity with Aram Kerkonian

Prime Minister Trudeau at MDA. Credit: Canadian Space Agency

A federal election in Canada presents a unique opportunity for stakeholders as it relates to regulatory reform and the possible creation of new laws.

My guest this week on the SpaceQ podcast is Aram Daniel Kerkonian, a lawyer with Ardaker Space Consultants and the co-author of the government mandated 2017 independent review of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act.

Today we’re going to be talking about the opportunity a federal election presents for the space community in seeking changes to existing regulations and what new regulations, and possibly even new legislation, could come from the next government.

You might think is dry stuff, on the contrary. For anyone working in the business of space, or new companies to the space sector, this is an important topic and time. Why? Because the space sector is rapidly evolving and the government needs to adapt to those changes so that Canadian businesses can remain competitive on a global scale. It also has a direct impact on whether foreign investors see Canada as a place to do business.

The Canadian government is aware of the need to make regulatory changes. The new Canadian space strategy Exploration, Imagination, Innovation – A New Space Strategy for Canada released in March of this provided the necessary signal to the civil service that regulatory reform was a go.

Recently SpaceQ Intel, a new division within SpaceQ hosted a one day roundtable that brought together government and industry. For the most part, government was in listen mode due to the elections being called. It was an opportunity for industry to express their thoughts on current regulations and any changes that might be needed along with any new potential legislation that should be contemplated. For government it was an opportunity to see what, if any consensus would come from industry. This in turn will help the civil service in advising a new government and those incoming ministers of departments with a space mandate.

Today Aram and I will discuss election 2019 and the opportunities it presents for regulatory reform.

Listen in.

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About Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

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