Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Given that the federal government is one of the major purchasers of construction industry services, I think the only thing our committee or members of Parliament should be concerned about is getting the best value for the construction dollar invested. Other regional concerns or industry sector concerns should be dealt with as policy matters for the government, but not legislated. I keep getting caught up on that.
Mr. Atkinson, in your report I think you used language that I would use. You pointed out that it shouldn't be a legislated matter: “no construction material...should be awarded a legislated priority over others”. I can't disagree.
But I'm also sympathetic. It seems that the wood producers and the forest industry claim that they don't have an equal footing, that the government isn't allowed to consider the use of wood in building projects. That is what I understood from some of the presentations.
Is it your understanding that there is a bias against using wood, as opposed to an equal opportunity for building materials? Is there any evidence of this?