Thank you, Mr. Larocque.
I noticed that you used to be a process engineer. I used to be a certified senior process engineer as well. I also studied in the pulp and paper area at U of T and I used to work for PetroCan. I'm very glad to see you here as a witness today.
About 20 years ago, PetroCan was recognized as a leading-edge research institute in this industry. This is why I feel so proud to have been part of PetroCan 15 or 16 years ago. Then it merged with Forintek Canada Corporation and others that formed FPInnovations.
As I recall, the amalgamation was necessary to deal with reduced profit, cut costs because of the heightened competition in that very rapidly shrinking industry at that time. Then some years ago, Canada mainly sold the high value-added product to our global market. For instance, we sold a high-quality paper and craft department to the Asian market. Our forestry products were much sought after.
However, today it would appear that we are now talking more about certain lumber or the raw material of forest products to the global market and even to Asia or the U.S. But those products no longer have such a high value-added status. Of course, sometimes when we mention biofuels, we mention biomaterials and some new areas that might appear in your talk.
This question is for both witnesses. In your opinion, how healthy is this industry in Canada right now? Do you have any contingency plans to handle this worst-case scenario? How do we maintain this leading-edge research as we did before? How can the government better support the industry to go through the worst periods?