Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome back to our witnesses. Both of you have appeared before this committee a number of times, and there's always good discussion.
You had some very informative points, Mr. Kirke, on the apparel business. When we look at agreements, sometimes the obvious is missed. I'm always a little bit shocked, how that happens, but obviously it does.
I want to start off with a couple of questions on forestry. It's an industry that's very much in my background. I'm very familiar with it in the east coast of Canada.
Your point's well taken on having one customer. I've mentioned it many times at this committee. Eastern Canadian mills used to depend very much on Europe as a marketplace. We got shut out of Europe for phytosanitary reasons, so $900-million worth of wood that came out of Nova Scotia alone to Europe suddenly turned south. By far the Americans are taking that portion, that billion dollars' worth of wood products coming out of Nova Scotia, and Europe is getting a few hundred thousand. We have an advantageous position, of course, because we don't fall under countervail. We do fall under anti-dumping, when it happens, but it's helpful to us.
I would take a moment to congratulate you and your industry on helping out after the tsunami. Good for you. That's what neighbours do for neighbours. That's nice to see.
The fact that we do have a mature marketplace in Japan, the fact that we do have a culture that's traditionally built with wood, as we do in North America, particularly in Canada, should help us to move this forward. I would ask, however, what role modern forestry practices, certification in particular, has played in bringing that product into Japan.