Finance committee  For the most part, it's people from within the jurisdiction who are residing in these communities and who are part of these businesses. They're pitching us the ideas. Every once in a while we'll get somebody, for example, on the agricultural front, such as the the Cattlemen's Association, either the Ontario one or the Canadian one, who will say, “Oh, a million acres of available land, we'd like to talk to you about that”, and we're always open for both.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Yes, that's correct. The report in northwestern Ontario looked at, over the next five years, the number of mines they expect to be opening, plus the age of the workforce in northwestern Ontario. They felt that over the next five years they're going to need 40,000 people to take these new jobs and the retirement jobs.

Finance committee  Thanks, Chair.

Finance committee  Unfortunately, the majority of our communities in northern Ontario have suffered with single industry collapses, whether they be in forestry, mining, or steel. Sault Ste. Marie is a recent example.

Finance committee  They're cyclical in nature, to a certain extent. What we're trying to do is say that we know it will occur again, but what can we do in the interim? What better product, what better service, what better business can you do while awaiting the next cycle to come up or down? I've said this to many companies, “If you're going to come to me and say you want to open another sawmill, good luck, Godspeed, but not here.”

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. We certainly see great opportunity in northern Ontario. Some examples would include on the health front. We help to fund one of four cyclotrons that exist across the country. We have funded the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute, which is a world-class research institute on health in Thunder Bay.

Finance committee  The short answer is yes. Yes, certainly. If we had more money we would look to make more investments on the innovation front in working with our communities in terms of looking for development opportunities. We try to do the best we can with the budget we have. We have to make difficult decisions.

Finance committee  I'm not an expert when it comes to the softwood lumber agreement, but I can tell you the example I gave you and I can give you some other examples. We helped the Kenora Forest Products sawmill, which is a softwood lumber company. We worked with it to explore a new market in Japan for what's called stress rated lumber.

Finance committee  I'm sorry, sir, I cannot offer any comment. I'm not sufficiently—

Finance committee  I can't offer a comment in terms of whether it's 100% or not. I can indicate that high energy prices are an issue in northern Ontario. We're working with companies to look at other opportunities to generate their own energy, by using bio-opportunities in that regard, which is reducing their energy costs.

Finance committee  I am sorry if I wasn't clear. Certainly we're aware of the matter. As companies come to us with a business opportunity, they give us their financials. We see that information in their financials. That's not to say we're blind to it. We are aware that it is an issue. We see what the costs are in their financial statements.

Finance committee  No, we don't, and we haven't been asked to do so. The first nations communities, in my history of working with them, shy away from wanting the government to be involved in the negotiations of what are termed IBAs, impact and benefit agreements with companies. They do that themselves.

Finance committee  If we were asked to provide funding to hire lawyers to negotiate those kinds of agreements, no, we would not. These first nation communities receive funding from INAC, as you would be aware, and their funding is given to them in bundles, if I can use that word. They have an opportunity to take the money provided for administration and determine how they're going to use it.

Finance committee  Thank you. We'll certainly take that under advisement. I'm just being reminded here that we have funded more than 111 projects with indigenous communities across this broad spectrum that I defined to you earlier. So again, the question is where we put our limited resources to make sure we get the best outcomes.