Thank you.
Solar thermal is the most cost-effective renewable energy available to Canada. It's a fact that we are not all that aware of as Canadians. As a result of the program called ecoENERGY for renewable heat, over the last four or five years the solar thermal industry in Canada has grown by over 50% a year to create hundreds and hundreds of jobs across Canada. At the end of Q1 of this year, the ecoENERGY program was cancelled, and that industry, including my company, has seen serious effects, including revenues reduced by well over 50% just in the six months since the demise of the ecoENERGY program.
This industry is a fledgling industry and needs support in the early days to grow and achieve its potential. We're asking for $10 million a year to grow an industry that has the potential to produce thousands and thousands of jobs for Canada.
Canada right now has its own domestic solar thermal technology and industry, and right now Canadian companies are satisfying more than 50% of Canada's needs in solar thermal, but without support that industry is going to decline and eventually disappear. This is a time when Canada needs investment in renewable energy, and right now we need investment in solar thermal at this critical time.
Over the next five to ten years there will be the growth of a massive solar thermal industry across North America. The question we have to ask is, do we want a Canadian industry? If we want Canadian manufacturers for now, we need support from the federal government.
Thank you.