All right.
With regard to power regeneration in this country, again, we think we should get very aggressive about people who want to reinvest in biomass, people in the pulp and paper sectors or other sectors where they have wood waste. When they can make modifications to the plant to use biomass or wind energy, they should get very favourable treatment.
Everybody wants it to be environmental, to be green, but wind energy is very expensive. Let's get bold and aggressive and have a tax regime where we can write off our investment in the first year, perhaps even 150%, so that we can attract investment in these highly capital-intensive investments and do something. Otherwise nothing happens; the power is too expensive, and it's not practical for industry.
I have a brief point on carbon sequestration. Canada is blessed with 120 million hectares of forest land. We can sequester 100 million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide. We need the government to do three things. First, let's regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Let's find out what the numbers are going to be and be clear about it so that we can make our plans. Let's also permit trading of carbon credits. We need to have a market there. Or let's create an offset system where they can be traded; we think that's essential there.
I'm not going to talk about the trade agreements regarding EFTA. Don and Paul have covered that off quite well, so I'm not going to get into it.
My next point is on skill building and productivity improvement for our employees, for Canadians, for the workforce. I recommend that the Government of Canada introduce a non-taxable category based on employee incentive. An employee could receive up to perhaps $2,500 a year--providing he didn't make any more than, say, $50,000 a year--on a tax-free basis. We have to get everybody in this country thinking more about productivity, and money motivates people. It's not everything, but clearly we have to find a way to create more enthusiasm. So I'd like to put that thought out there.
For example, at the present time, let's say we give an employee a $50 jacket for achieving a production record or a safety record. We have two $700-a-year categories. If we give somebody a $50 credit, that impinges on that $700 tax-free category. Forget about that; let's have a category where you have a pool of perhaps $700 or $1,000 that can be used also for recognition, employee recognition, for health, safety, productivity.
We have to be more visual. We have to be proud of our accomplishments. We have to celebrate those wins. Everybody has to know about them. If somebody wins a safety award or a production award, it shouldn't be a tax burden. They shouldn't get a T4 for it. It shouldn't be a taxable benefit, as far as I'm concerned. We have to be more aggressive.
With regard to health and wellness, we think there should be a proactive approach. It needs to be realized that the employer and the employee get recognized in a different fashion. The government should encourage greater employer participation in certified fitness programs, smoking cessation, or approved weight loss programs by making the employer, where they reimburse these programs, tax-exempt. As an employer, if we're going to say that we run these programs....
In our organization, our employees can come through once a year, on a voluntary basis, with their spouse to see a doctor. They can get their blood, their cholesterol, and all their vital signs checked once a year. Up to 70% of our employees are blue-collar workers, and oftentimes they don't get to see a doctor until it's too late. We say, no, let's....
You want me off, Mr. Chair.