Okay. That's no problem.
The by-products are woodchips, sawdust, shavings and bark, but the major challenge is with the wood chip market. We have to come up with uses quickly and find high-volume users as a replacement for pulp and paper manufacturers, whose products are disappearing from the market. The products should go to the biofuel, bioproducts and biochemical sectors. To do this, the government should support research and development and assistance programs designed to reduce the financial risk inherent in moving new products from demonstration to industrial scale. It should make regulations requiring fuel to contain some proportion of forest biodiesel. Measures of that kind would allow the industry to develop.
Now, let us move to the secondary processing sector. It can be divided into two parts.
The first part is made up of basic products such as I-beams, joists and treated wood. These are produced by “push production”, meaning you sell what you make. The second part is made up of niche products such as decorative products, an area in which Maibec has gained some expertise.
Challenges with secondary processing are associated with the availability of a well-educated workforce in rural areas. Training programs, encouraging francophone immigration and assistance programs for automation would provide support for our industry.
Other challenges that the sector has to face include the need to understand construction systems, building envelopes, regulations and codes, as well as performance and durability requirements. We would like the federal government to support training and research and development programs like those that already exist, such as the Chaire industrielle de recherche sur la construction écoresponsable en bois, CIRCERB, at the Université Laval, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, NSERC. This example shows that the industry is capable of taking great strides forward.
We would also like to enlist the support of FPInnovations, whose program in construction systems, including panels, timber and glue-laminated wood, is unique in North America. The program operates in Quebec City and in a laboratory in Vancouver. It is unique in the sense that few research projects consider panels and sawn wood in construction systems. They are found nowhere else in North America. The exceptional development being done in this area in Quebec City and in Vancouver must be supported. Part of our industry’s future depends on it.
It is appropriate today to highlight the research concept being developed in Quebec City between FPInnovations, the Canadian Forest Service and the Université Laval. Agreements to collaborate and to share offices and research equipment have been reached so that we can be more effective and productive, both in forest development and in the development of products and construction systems. This entirely new model has been in place for a few weeks. This promising model will let us move from basic research to applied research and product development. This is the formula that needs to be followed, and we are very pleased that we have succeeded in creating this synergy in Quebec City. It should allow us to speed up the development of these products.
We must also rise to another challenge, the development of market intelligence. By that, we mean understanding the value chain right to the end customer, especially for the more “pull type” production of niche products. We must continue to develop this aspect that is unique to the secondary processing industry.
We must also gain a better understanding of the technical aspects of wood as a material. This means how it is worked, stained and made to last, the factors on which the long-term guarantees provided by manufacturers depend. In this regard, the support provided at the CIRCERB, and in universities, is extremely important for the industry.
Finally, there must be free access to the market. It is often believed that secondary products are not affected by commercial constraints, but unfortunately they are. Take, for example, our panelling, made of superior quality wood. It is worked and stained in our plant, custom-made for house after house, and delivered with spare mouldings, nails and paint. Those products are taxed when we want to export them to the United States. Of course, in the negotiations about the next lumber agreement, the Government of Canada must ensure that secondary products are excluded from all constraints, which is unfortunately not the case currently.
Finally, I would like to talk about the tertiary processing industry. Products such as commercial and multi-storey building systems that use cross-laminated timber, for example, have to face the same challenges as as the secondary processing industry. This developing sector will increasingly have to influence existing and future building codes to ensure that wood is accepted to a greater extent in building systems throughout Canada.
The Government of Canada can help support the creation of standards, as well as the Canadian Wood Council and the WoodWORKS! promotional program, for example. Canada must set an example thanks to its green infrastructure agenda. It must adopt a wood charter, like Quebec, that would require architects and engineers to assess the possibility of using wood, just as they would use other materials, such as concrete, steel and plastic, for their plans. I think that this would be a big step for the wood industry and for Canada in terms of its vision as a country with a green agenda.
Since my time is short, I will keep to these points, and I am ready to answer any questions the members of the Committee may have.
Thank you.