Thank you so much for that question. I was in Williams Lake last week and met with some forestry sector leaders to talk about the challenges facing the forestry sector. We were there to make a funding announcement to encourage more indigenous businesses to actually participate. This is a very important sector for our economy, particularly in rural and isolated communities as a source of employment.
As part of the fall economic statement, $100 million has been allocated through the strategic investment fund, particularly focused on forestry. I met with the forestry ministers in September in Halifax and my ministry and the ministry in British Columbia are co-chairing a working group of all ministries throughout the country on how we can better respond to and manage fires. We are waiting for the conclusion of that discussion. They will be reporting back to us at the end of December.
As you also may know, through the softwood lumber action plan we are investing $867 million to support workers and communities to focus on diversifying to other markets under Minister Carr. Obviously this is part of his new portfolio and he is focused on it. We really want to help producers get access to new markets.