The committee member is right to point out the sheer significance of this industry, and it's sometimes tempting to be distracted by some of the ups and downs in the short term. The government has committed in recent pronouncements to investing significant amounts of monies in that space, using a variety of instruments, starting with expenditure measures. There's $200 million per year over four years that has been committed for innovation in natural resources in the energy, forestry, mining, fisheries and oceans, and agriculture sectors.
The second source of funding is $100 million a year over four years in support for clean-tech producers. That should certainly give a significant push to advancing this innovation agenda. The government has also committed to looking at the variety of measures—regulations, tax measures, the green infrastructure funds, the $60 billion over ten years, and $20 billion for green infrastructure—which should meaningfully contribute to that particular space in creating that demand pool.
That set of instruments combined should provide some significant push and pull for the sector, recognizing that global markets still have to go through their own gyrations, which are well beyond the control of Canada. There we'll have to keep our eyes on the ball in the medium to longer terms, I would submit, to see how the prices evolve. At least in terms of the controllable elements, the government is determined to take more action.