We've had a lot of discussions and exchanges with representatives of the federal Department of Finance. We've also attended the meetings of various parliamentary committees to explain the validity of potential tax assistance measures for private forest owners.
From all of today's discussion, I understand that an industry definitely has to get through this crisis, an industry that will be in good position in future to meet the demand for forest products, which will be great.
I think that committee members must not lose sight of the fact that it will also take timber, because that's what forest products are made of and, ideally, superior quality timber to what we currently have near the plants. It's at that point that the industry will have low-cost fibre to be increasingly competitive. That way, we have the conviction... This isn't a matter of dreaming in Technicolor because promising achievements have been made in forest development in the past 30 years with government support, and measures put in place.
Woodlots currently produce four to five times more timber than the average for all forests. That's the result of workers who have made a commitment to the development of their forests using development plans, technical support and so on. But there are still a lot of opportunities for getting more owners in Canada involved in this approach.
In conclusion, we must not be afraid to intervene through the tax system to assist woodlot owners. In the United States, the U.S. federal government makes significant use of tax measures to assist woodlot owners in developing their forests. Here I have a three-page list of measures in effect in the United States; I could cite them to you.