Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses.
I think we all agree that we are also a part of biodiversity. I'd like to thank Mr. Verreault for mentioning that. We have to be able to protect ourselves, the species and the environment that supports us, because, as someone said, you can't have an economy without an environment. We must make the required efforts.
I was looking at the chronology of events. In 2000, an independent species monitoring committee designated the boreal caribou as a threatened and vulnerable species. The Quebec government established this same designation in 2005. In 2016, the Quebec government committed to implementing a protection strategy for boreal and mountain caribou, but we're still waiting for it. Uncertainty is not good. In business, you want certainty.
As the government has said, if Quebec were taking the steps it has committed to undertake, we wouldn't need a decree. We don't want a decree either. We also stated publicly that we would take into account all the points of view expressed during the consultations.
We're talking about reforming the forestry regime to achieve a balance between ecology and economy. We need ecology. In my region, foresters understand quite well that we must protect our forests if we want to have a prosperous forest industry.
What are the proposed solutions to achieve this balance?