To order copies of The gateway is a stepping stone to a test colony on the moon, so NASA can prepare for a manned mission to Mars, which they say “could someday be a destination for survival of humankind.”. permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. But what was more perplexing was why Canada’s space strategy centred on building a robotic arm for NASA. Canadarm, Canada's most famous robotic and technological achievement, made its space debut on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-2) on November 13, 1981. “The centrepiece of the space strategy [is] that Canada is going to the moon,” declared Bains. “We are thrilled to partner with (group president) Mike Greenley and the rest of the MDA team and are excited about the significant growth potential we see for the company,” he said in a statement. A consortium led by Toronto-based Northern Private Capital with financial backing from former BlackBerry co-chief executive Jim Balsillie and others will acquire all Canadian and U.K. operations of the former MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates. A partnership with Canadarm Lending Services also means that a client’s staff can continue a direct relationship with their members and customers through technology-based, white-labeled products. While the blurry image of Bains explaining gravitational orbits was hardly as dramatic as the moon landing, it was still an exciting announcement for Canada. MDA argues this will yield a job windfall for Canadians: “10,000 person-years of employment,” most of them based in this country. rights reserved. It named the combined company Maxar and registered it as a corporation in Delaware. And finally there’s Denver-based Molson Coors’ and its Molson Canadian beer with the infamous “I am Canadian” marketing. MDA is expected to continue to supply components and subsystems to Maxar when the deal concludes and the companies have agreed to continue to sell each other’s complementary satellite data, Maxar said. All Companies in this story: (TSX:BMO, TSX:BNS, TSX:SEC, TSX:MAXR), Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Behind them, the future Canadarm 3 orbits the moon. The U.S. has subsequently planted five more American flags on the moon. Applications accepted on a rolling basis. In 2008, the Conservative-led federal government blocked the sale of its space unit to an American aerospace and defence company called Alliant Techsystems, saying it was not in Canada’s interest. Melody Ma, a Tyee contributing editor, is a culture and neighbourhood advocate and tech worker in Vancouver. This setback did not discourage MDA from pursuing its Americanization plan, dubbed the U.S. Access Plan. We look forward to partnering with your staff to provide small business and commercial lending services. The Economist dedicated an article to the photo, noting that “the tactic of fairly ham-fisted airbrushing used here seems more reminiscent of North Korean propaganda posters than of Western democracies’ typical PR efforts.”, Other governments have noticed the way space exploration proves a potent advertisement for patriotism. MDA is also known for having developed Radarsat Earth-observation satellites and other advanced space technologies. Where does that leave MDA? Indeed, corporations long have wrapped themselves in national flags to sell products, even as globalization increasingly strains their claims. Last year, with a coalition of other space interest groups, MDA led a well-funded lobbying campaign called #DontLetGoCanada designed to tap into national pride. When it comes to vying for Canadian federal funds, MDA, not Maxar, is the company making the pitch — and it’s a relentless appeal to Canadians’ patriotism. MDA’s lobbying efforts have successfully cemented their sizeable Canadarm funding request in the 2019 federal budget. But when the product is a costly, taxpayer-funded outer space infrastructure project, I can no longer exercise my individual agency and must trust our politicians to make the hefty spending decision on behalf of all of us. On Lunar New Year this year, PepsiCo decided to stoke that national pride and released a seven-minute-long Mandarin ad celebrating a hypothetical Chinese moon landing. Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star When a recent Hollywood biopic about Neil Armstrong, First Man, elected not to show the U.S. flag-planting in favour of celebrating the universality of the lunar achievement, Aldrin and President Donald Trump condemned the omission, with Trump complaining “when you think of Neil Armstrong and when you think about the landing on the moon, you think about the American flag.”. It was placed on the first Canadarm after the project team saw the European Space Agency’s logo on the European Spacelab module. The deal to repatriate MDA’s Canadian operations will be financed by a combination of equity from sources including NPC, Balsillie and Senvest Capital, along with debt from providers including Scotiabank and Bank of Montreal. “As a Canadian, I am so proud this iconic Canadian company will once again be owned and controlled in Canada.”. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution Canadarm Lending Services your path to success in commercial and small business lending Canadarm Lending Services can mitigate the barriers to entry and help their clients retain loyal members and customers, who would otherwise take their lending needs to a larger commercial or regional institution. TORONTO - The company that built the robotic Canadarm for the U.S. Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs is returning to Canadian ownership in a … If you have concerns related to your privacy please contact us at info@thetyee.ca. I sat glued to my screen watching Navdeep Bains, the federal minister of innovation, science and economic development, launch Canada’s new space strategy in front of a room full of starry-eyed grade school students. All information submitted to The Tyee is only available to employees or sub-contractors who are bound by agreement with The Tyee to keep the information private. This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates was the Canadian space technology company behind Radarsat Earth-observation satellites and the Canadarm robotic … Win a Ticket to ‘Shame and Prejudice’ Exhibit at Museum of Anthropology, Use sexist, classist, racist or homophobic language, Troll patrol. For more information on our programs, services, or investor opportunities contact us. Consider the nationalist emotion sparked by the sight of American astronaut Buzz Aldrin planting and saluting an American flag on the first moon landing. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2019. Its Instagram account is peppered with photos of the outdoor advertisements, including a photo at Parliament Hill of an astronaut mascot standing in front of a bus with a “The Universe Needs More Canada” ad on its side. Tim Hortons, carrying the name of a well-known Canadian hockey player, stirs our cultural pride to push us coffee and doughnuts, (even though it is majority owned by the American-Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital). Hudson’s Bay touts itself as “Canada’s iconic department store,” and hawks its classic striped wool blankets as colonial nostalgia, (while its majority owner, U.S.-based NRDC Equity Partners, capitalizes on the lucrative real estate underneath the stores). “After the transaction is complete, Maxar will retain leading capabilities in geospatial data and analytics, satellites, space robotics and space infrastructure, and we will continue to have strong alignment with our defence and intelligence customers, the evolving requirements of civil governments and the pursuit of innovation seen in the commercial marketplace,” Jablonsky said. Both animals wear astronaut helmets with their mouths open as if they’re belting out support for more funding for a space program. “Over its 50-year history, MDA has grown from a B.C.-based start-up into a world-class space technology company and an anchor of Canada’s space program,” said John Risley, the Halifax billionaire who founded Clearwater Fine Foods and is a principal with investor Andrew Lapham in Northern Private Capital. To order MDA was the only space-related organization that submitted a budget request for the Canadarm as a key recommendation. After listing Canada’s lengthy achievements in space, the #DontLetGoCanada’s website shouts “It's Decision Time,” and asserts the “most pressing” decision for Canada’s space program is “whether to participate, or not, in the Lunar Gateway Mission.”. “Canadians care about the Canadarm. Canadarm Lending Services can mitigate the barriers to entry and help their clients retain loyal members and customers, who would otherwise take their lending needs to a larger commercial or regional institution. Two lucky readers will get a chance to see Kent Monkman’s work. When India sent a low-cost spacecraft to orbit Mars in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The success of our space program is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation. At Expo 86 in Vancouver, visitors were treated to an exhibition where model “astronauts attached to an enormous Canadarm [moved] slowly across in front of the audience.” Google even helped Canadians celebrate the 31st birthday of Canadarm with a Google Doodle. Then-CEO Howard Lance acknowledged Maxar would be a U.S. company and today its headquarters are in Colorado. Read more: Local Economy, Politics, Science + Tech. So what might have driven Trudeau to focus on the Canadarm for NASA instead? In an email, Lapham said the MDA management team will remain in their current headquarters in Brampton, Ont., if the deal is completed. Tyee Poll: Do You Think BC Should Change Its Pandemic Plan for Schools? It said MDA’s Canadian businesses are estimated to have generated about C$485 million in revenue and C$110 million in adjusted earnings in 2019, with the revenue including about C$100 million of intercompany sales to other Maxar entities. With major global powers and private companies rushing into space for military or business reasons, shouldn’t Canada’s space strategy be largely focused on our national interests — in security, communications, climate change, economy — while continuing to champion space as a global commons? The Canadarm is an icon of national pride for Canadians.
