Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I join the chair in welcoming you here today.
This is a very interesting study. We are just getting into it but we did start by taking the opportunity to review the study that was done back in 2007. We certainly came to understand the imperative for the industry to begin a transformation and also to recognize that innovation and commercialization were going to be the key to that transformation.
I look back at the introduction from the report in 2007. What the committee undertook to do was to seek to contribute to the implementation of a market-driven action plan that would make it possible to lay the groundwork for the industry's renewal, prosperity, and sustainability. That's really why we're here now taking a look back at that study. Seven or eight years have passed and we're trying to get a really good grasp on what has taken place since 2007. I have a sense that things have changed and that there's been a lot of progress in the industry but recognize that there's still much to be done.
I want to ask my first question to Mr. Chui.
I understand that the University of New Brunswick is the only university in Atlantic Canada that has that concentration of strength to provide support to the wood industry. I understand that you have received funding from NRCan through the value to wood program. You did state that the university performs a critical support role to the wood industry. I want to give you an opportunity to speak a little bit more to that support role that you play.