Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In Budget 2006 there was an allocation of $200 million committed by the government for the mountain pine beetle. Approximately half of that was used to undertake control efforts designed to slow the spread, to look at ways to generate more value out of the affected trees, and to work with communities around protecting communities--hazard trees in some schools and parks and communities.
The other $100 million was dedicated to essentially dealing with the reality of economic impacts after the pest infestation has passed. We've worked closely with Western Diversification and Transport Canada on infrastructure projects as well as community economic development programs.
There was a very small portion of the $200 million used for research; however, it was relatively small. One of the areas we did invest in was expanding geoscience in terms of exploration of other opportunities, perhaps in mineral resources, in the affected areas, again to stimulate exploration with a view to offering other economic development opportunities in the affected area.