Industry committee  Yes, it's as crazy as that. It has sold three plants, it seems, at a cost of $5 million for the old iron. Imagine: it invested $180 million in machine number 5, which is apparently AbitibiBowater's most modern machine, barely ten years ago. People set production records on these machines.

Industry committee  I would just like to remind you, as we pointed out earlier, that the forests are still growing. So, I say to these people that if they don't want to do the processing in our region, they should at least have the decency to leave it there and we will try to find something else. When we talked to the Minister of Natural Resources for Quebec, she told us that there is no possibility of expropriation.

Industry committee  I was pleasantly surprised to hear the answer given by the president of the company. He said that if he is able to reach an agreement with Boralex, he might reopen the plant. I must say that Boralex was sold by that company for some $76 million. As I said earlier, all the contracts have been signed.

Industry committee  I'm glad you asked me that question. When these companies merged, there was something abnormal about it. It was agreed that these four companies would merge into one, and yet they're still independent. Indeed, it seems as though Bowater Canada could fail, but were that to occur, Bowater in the United States could not.

Industry committee  Right from the outset, when we realized that the company was struggling, we met with a manager from the paper mill. We offered our cooperation, told them that their success would be our success, and we invited them to put everything on the table. Without their asking and even before this was done anywhere else, we decided, in concert with city appraisers, to devalue the plant.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning everyone. I want to convey special greetings to the workers and the unions. Appearing today to talk about a community and try and explain to people that there is no logic to what is happening now is quite a responsibility. I will try to discharge it as best I can.