Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It's interesting to see me on the other side. In my presentation, people will see me in a somewhat different, and not at all partisan, light. Trees aren't partisan.
Thank you very much for inviting me and Michael to be here. I am not a tree expert, but I like trees. I know how important they are to people. They help clean the atmosphere. They help people in communities feel better. They provide shade for people. There is a number of really good things about trees that we all endorse.
Tree Canada was formed, interestingly enough, a long time ago in 1992 by government action. The government funded an organization to plant trees. We have since morphed from an organization dependent on government money to an organization that is almost now exclusively financed by the private sector.
The very interesting things that people do.... I'm part of a community of 140 houses, and this fall we are planting 29 edible trees. This will produce way more fruit and edible nuts than we could ever eat. We're partnered with a group called Hidden Harvest Ottawa, which will help with the harvest and redistribute the food.
Since 1992, we have planted more than 82 million trees. We average more than 300,000 trees a year, all almost exclusively funded by the private sector.
As you might expect, the association gets calls from you and from groups all over the country asking about trees and what is happening and what can be done. We employ a large number of foresters who are experts in the field. Whenever I go and do something for Tree Canada, I'm always well supported by an expert. If you have easy questions, they come to me. If you hard questions, they go to the experts.
Our expert today is the president of Tree Canada, who has been with us a long time and who knows about trees.
Mike.