Finance committee  Why don't I take a crack at that? First off, cement is a powder. It's a finely ground powder, and cement only goes into concrete, which is sand, water, and gravel, at a 7% to 10% ratio. When we make cement, we produce approximately 750 kilograms of greenhouse gases per tonne of cement, but with only 7% tp 10% going into concrete, we're down to about 75 kilograms, which puts us very comparable to other building materials.

Finance committee  Thank you very much.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. Let me be direct. Cement and concrete are a sustainable and critical component to rebuilding and developing Canada’s infrastructure. Durable, safe, energy efficient, and resilient in the face of diverse and changing climate, cement and concrete are a key building material used in virtually all above and below ground infrastructure and building projects.

Finance committee  The answer is yes, we should be looking at the cradle-to-grave, life-cycle costing. Asphalt pavement, for example, lasts between five and seven years. Concrete pavement lasts between 35 and 50 years. When oil is at $70 a barrel or less, we're not competitive on first cost with asphalt, but whenever oil is greater than $70 a barrel, we are winning first cost every time.

Finance committee  I couldn't put an exact figure on it, but if you just look at the Champlain Bridge in Montreal, for example, that's a billion dollars. I thought about coming prepared with my David Letterman top 10 list, and I'd be happy to provide you with that. But if you just look around the country—at the billion-dollar tunnel here in Ottawa for transit; the light rail, subway systems in Toronto; the province of Quebec is into infrastructure for about $33 billion a year; Ontario is about $30 billion a year—we think the federal government should be doing its share as well.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members. It's a real pleasure to be here today and to provide the cement industry's thoughts and perspectives on the upcoming budget measures. Given the critical importance of our nation's infrastructure in maintaining jobs, promoting economic growth, and the growing importance of sustainable construction, cement and concrete are arguably one of Canada's most important and strategic commodities.

Finance committee  Yes, Holcim Canada is located in your constituency. We're aware of those numbers. And we're also aware of the tremendous pressure on governments with deficits right now to spend more and more money on infrastructure. But we are aware, in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, that there is an unprecedented amount of spending on infrastructure and renewing infrastructure.

Finance committee  What we found was that in year one of the stimulus package, most of the money went to architects and engineers and environmental assessments. We only started to see the benefits of the economic stimulus package at the beginning of this year. We had forecast a growth of 9% in cement for 2010, and we're only going to see about 4% to 6% increase in sales in cement.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Szabo. I certainly appreciate where you're coming from, since you have a cement plant in your—

Finance committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Michael McSweeney and I am the president of the Cement Association of Canada. You'll know most of the names of the cement companies around Canada. They're Cal Portland, Ciment Quebec, Essroc Italcementi, Federal White, Holcim Canada, Lafarge , Lehigh Hanson, and St.