Thank you as well for helping out in our unprecedented budget consultations, which I indicated in my opening remarks.
Canada is a global leader in sustainable forest management. To help translate this record into a market advantage, budget 2008 provided $10 million over two years to promote the environmental reputation of Canada's forest sector internationally.
Misperceptions about our environmental performance are compounding the challenges facing the forest industry. They also threaten our ability to sell into future markets. If people begin to understand and believe misperceptions, it's not going to allow us to penetrate foreign markets.
The leadership for environmental advantage in forestry program is helping to mitigate the impact of large-scale campaigns. The program is cost-shared with federal contributions, leveraging matching funds from industry and provincial sources. Canada's ability to close the gap between environmental performance and reputation is a critical element of securing the long-term prosperity of the Canadian forest sector. The majority of the funds are provided to the Forest Products Association of Canada, Canada's national forest industry association, to carry out market research and advocacy and monitoring activities as well.