Natural Resources committee  I will say that the vision remains powerful. We must continue the spirit of the recommendation in 2008. We must continue on that journey, and it's linked directly, Ms. Block, to the desire to extract maximum value from every tree we harvest. We are still able to extract more value from current harvest levels, and of course, there is always the question of whether you do more with the land base.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question. To build on David's theme I think the way we describe ourselves is that we are feeling unique in the shipper community with respect to our degree of captivity and our degree of reliance on the rail transportation system. As you can appreciate we're in 200 communities in remote parts of our country and nowhere near the main lines in most cases and we're shipping to 180 countries around the world.

Finance committee  Yes. Thank you for that question. Indeed I would say that the forest industry in Canada is at the coal face of seeing climatic impacts in our famous unfortunate scenario of mountain pine beetle. There has been federal support for mountain pine beetle science. I don't remember which budget that came from.

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to address that question. It's a critical question, and we're all seized with it. I would actually underline, Mike, that we think part of our second ask to the government and our provincial counterparts to promote the industry is actually a key element of that.

Finance committee  Thank you for your question. I am going to answer in English. In fact the biorefinery reference is a very interesting opportunity that's applicable not just to the forest industry but also to the agricultural sector and others that choose to use a bio-based feedstock. In the forest industry we have over 80 pulp mills across our country that generate pulp, which is a high value-added product.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mike, for the question. First I do want to clarify that the ask is also to engage colleges. You all have colleges in your communities that are very important to us not just for the R and D that they do, but also to provide future employees in addition to the university graduates.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. It's a very exciting time in the forest industry, which is what you are alluding to. We are seeing demonstrated successes out of that IFIT program. What we're asking for this time around is actually to fund the academic contribution to our innovation chain.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. FPAC has made an official submission, so I will keep my comments brief, but will flag that we do have a more detailed submission at your disposal. It is my distinct pleasure to be here today on behalf of the Canadian forest industry, an extremely important contributor to Canada's economy and in particular the rural economy.

International Trade committee  Yes. I'm going to have to be careful here because we're in the middle of a legal WTO process, but the Chinese have come out with a preliminary determination suggesting that Canada, the U.S., and Brazil are dumping. They've put in duties, essentially tariffs, to collect as a result of that dumping at various levels.

International Trade committee  Our view on the rail service legislation was that we were supportive and grateful to get another tool in our toolbox, but we have always said we would use that first and foremost as leverage when negotiating with the railways because the process is quite time-consuming and costly.

International Trade committee  Yes, I know. I can assure you that our companies are using it as leverage in negotiations—commercial relations.

International Trade committee  That's a very good question. I will say that in general a lot of our transformational activities actually integrate into the supply chains of other industries. For example, I was referencing with some passion my interest in NCC, nanocrystalline cellulose. It integrates into the supply chain of L'Oréal, the cosmetic company.

International Trade committee  I don't know if we have time to get me revved up on that issue, but I will say that our challenges with the railways exist. They are, generally speaking, related to both rates and service. We are captive rail shippers.

International Trade committee  I'm just confirming that I would like to be the one to respond.

International Trade committee  Yes, exactly. It is with some pleasure that we see that the forest annex, which specifically gets to green procurement dialogue bilaterally, is in the CETA agreement. The only thing I have to say is we have not seen the specific text so we haven't had a chance to deliberate on the details, but we're encouraged to see that it's....