Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members. It's a real pleasure to be here today and to provide the cement industry's thoughts and perspectives on the upcoming budget measures.
Given the critical importance of our nation's infrastructure in maintaining jobs, promoting economic growth, and the growing importance of sustainable construction, cement and concrete are arguably one of Canada's most important and strategic commodities. Concrete is the most used man-made commodity, not only in Canada but around the world.
Our sector, like so many others, has been hard hit by the economic recession. Even though the economy has been slowly recovering, there is still a reduced demand for cement and concrete across Canada. During the recession our industry has experienced layoffs, prolonged shutdowns, and we're still a long way from achieving pre-recession levels of production, capacity utilization at our plants, and full employment. The continuing global economic instability and stagnation of the American economy are still directly affecting our operations in Canada.
We understand that a final decision has not been made on whether or not to engage in another round of stimulus funding from governments. But whether or not a second round is approved, I want to remind the committee members of the critical need for annual investments in our country's infrastructure. I caution the committee and the government to make a clear distinction between fiscal stimulus and the ongoing funding required for infrastructure across the country.
The federal government must continue to invest annually in the country's infrastructure at consistent and reliable levels. The recent publicity in Quebec regarding the collapsing of critical infrastructure in Montreal is a timely example and further underscores the need to maintain our investments in our country's infrastructure.
We support and applaud the government's plans to engage stakeholders and all levels of government in developing a successor program to the Building Canada plan. We also applaud the government for its commitment to introduce legislation to directly transfer $2 billion annually under the gas tax program to municipalities in support of their infrastructure needs. These are prudent and necessary steps in addressing Canada's infrastructure needs, but they're not sufficient alone to address Canada's substantial future infrastructure needs.
As part of a sustainable investment plan, all levels of government must achieve a better return on their infrastructure investments. The focus should be on total cost of ownership. The standard for government tendering, whether it's federal, provincial, or municipal, should never be based on the lowest cost wins but should reflect a policy of build it once, build it right, and build it to last. In this way, we will ensure that new projects contribute to achieving Canada's sustainable development objectives.
Finally, like most manufacturing sectors, we've been advocating for amendments to the way the government supports research and development in Canada. Specifically, we continue to support the accelerated capital cost allowance but recognize that changes to extend the application of benefits need to be made. As you may also be aware, the Jenkins panel recently released its report on innovation, which we welcome. We believe the report is an important step forward in discussing ways to improve federal support for innovation and to assist industry with critical advancements in technology. We agree with the panel's guiding principles that programs should be transformative, flexible, and tailored to the needs of specific sectors.
We also fully support the government's scientific research and experimental development tax credit program. We believe this has been an important driver in innovation for many sectors, including the cement industry. Our multinational members can invest in research and development in any of their locations around the world. We have been fortunate to date that they have invested countless millions of dollars in research here in Canada. One of our largest members, Lafarge Canada, has its global international research centre located in Montreal. One of the reasons for this has been that the Canadian governments, both provincial and federal, support R and D.
We believe it's essential that we continue to work hand in hand to improve innovation programs and incentives so we may continue to lead the world in homegrown innovation and manufacturing.
In conclusion, I hope I've shown you that our industry produces an important and strategic commodity and is continually seeking ways to be innovative. If you think about the positive attributes of concrete, attributes like sustainability, resiliency, durability, and safety, you'll start to think like me that concrete is really smarter than you think.
Thank you very much for the opportunity today, and I look forward to any questions after the vote.