Certainly, Mr. Crête. We haven't seen each other for quite some time.
There are two things to be considered. First of all, if we cannot carry on research and development in Canada as we are now, companies that are world leaders, such as Nortel, CAE and a number of others, will lose their advantage and will not be in a position to maintain either their sales globally or all the jobs they now provide in all areas, not just R&D.
Finally, our research and development is very beneficial to many other companies. SECOR, a well-known corporation, was asked to carry out a study. Every investment of $1 billion represents 10,000 jobs that are either gained or maintained. That corresponds to $175 million in economic activity and $200 million more in tax revenues for the federal government. I believe that research and development has very positive spinoffs.
Finally, we provide work to a great many other companies. If I am not mistaken, Nortel was saying today that it affects about 1,000 other companies. In our case, it's approximately 600 companies in the forestry sector that carry out a great deal of research. AbitibiBowater alone spends $200 million a year on research. When it shuts down one of its plants in a town, the entire town shuts down.
It's important that people realize that and understand the economic impact of research and development in Canada.