Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, gentlemen, for all of your presentations.
I want to perhaps start with Mr. Rigato. I think in your presentation, sir, you really accurately described the problem we've encountered with outdated technology in our pulp and paper industry as well as for a large part in our softwood and wood-producing industry.
There were times, and I know you gentlemen remember the heady days of the industry, when the mill owners didn't have to get out of bed in the morning and they made $50,000 that day. Those were good days, and we had lots of employment. But, and you said it yourself, we weren't updating the mills, and we got caught. So instead of blaming—it's easy to blame everything on the government, but you know what, in reality the industry has to take a lot of the responsibility for that as well.
I know you're quite right when you talked about some of the technology in our paper plants being from the 1950s and 1960s, whereas South America and Scandinavia have become up-to-date and are cutting our grass big time on the world markets.
I'm from central B.C., as you know. We have world-leading technology out there. We make wood cheaper than anyone else in the world, from a cost point of view.
The mills that have advanced their technology in the lumber side and the mills that have advanced on the pulp side, those are the ones that will, even though we're in a downturn, remain relatively strong and be in a really good position when the cycle starts to go again. As Mr. Lazar pointed out last week, the industry is going through a transformation, and that's a reality in every type of manufacturing sector. There are always periods of transformation when you have to reassemble your troops and then march down into a few more victories than what we've being experiencing.
I just wanted to make that comment. I think we realize there's a challenge. The government has a role to play, and so does industry. Mr. de la Roche talked about his organization, the technology and the research, and the path they're going down, and there's money from provincial and federal governments going toward technology.
Mr. Coles, I won't go into it, but I have to disagree with you. There's quite a record since 2006 of our government putting money specifically into the forest industry, research and development, and forest health. There was a time in British Columbia, for example, when the Canadian Forest Service used to do the pest control oversight. Back in the early 1990s, the province—I can't remember what government was in power—said it would take it over, just send the money. But in fact it never did start up again. I don't know if they're still getting the money. They shouldn't be, if they're not...but the government has changed now.
I can't disagree with the whole.... You guys have all presented a very accurate picture from your different points of view, and that's going to serve us well.
But before I run out of time, I have to ask you something, Mr. Rigato, because I want to take this back to British Columbia. You made a statement that technology is available to control the mountain pine beetle, but it has not been applied. I have to know what that technology is, sir.