Natural Resources Committee on March 1st, 2018

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thank you, Mr. Cannings.

Mr. Serré, and then when you're done we're going to go in camera.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to go back to Mr. Falk's comment. I've been in concrete buildings that had a big gap in the foundation, cracks. If it's not built properly, if it's not engineered properly, whether it's wood or concrete, it's a problem.

[Jean-Pierre Martel]

Yes, that can be done properly, both aspects there.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

I want to talk about innovation clusters, but before—

I would like to talk about the National Building Code and the supply system.

Mr. Canning's Bill C-354 talks about a preference. The idea of preference seems to be a problem. Other witnesses have alluded to fairness in terms of steel and concrete, as you have yourselves. But wood currently does not enjoy the same fairness in the National Building Code and the supply system.

Could you give us some examples that involve those two materials and tell us how we ensure a balance?

[Jean-Pierre Martel]

I feel that my colleagues from the Canadian Wood Council would be better able to give you an answer on that, because they take care of the interface with the National Building Code.

We provide the information needed for wood to be recognized for use in 10- or 12-storey buildings. We work in co-operation with the National Research Council of Canada on structures and on fires, and we provide the arguments to support the performance of the buildings.

So, as for the code, I feel that my colleagues from the Canadian Wood Council would be better able to answer your question.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

If there were a better balance between the National Building Code and the supply system, you would be better placed to achieve fairness without the need for preference, and you would be able to compete more fairly in the private sector and in other sectors. That is essentially what you are saying.

[Jean-Pierre Martel]

Yes. The thing is that, in some sectors, wood is not accepted. Instead of evaluating the performance of wood as a material in construction systems, they prefer not to consider it. So I feel that the value of the bill lies in the fact that it will make wood a very competitive material once again, one that is also positive in terms of the environment.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

For Mr. Cannings' bill to get more support, there is talk of grouping companies into clusters. You talked about centres of innovation in Vancouver, Hinton, Alberta, Thunder Bay and Quebec City.

In Budget 2017, our government invested $39 million in the Green Construction through Wood program, GCWood, and the centre in Thunder Bay has signed on. Do those initiatives help you with innovation and competitiveness, as they have helped other sectors in the past?

[Jean-Pierre Martel]

Absolutely.

In research and development, it is all about the financing, pure and simple. So if you want to make a sector competitive and to transform it, you not only need research and development, you also have to be able to roll out a new process, a new product, and to reduce your risks in the marketplace. So investment from the federal or provincial governments, in partnership with the industry, is important not only in order to develop new products, but also in order to bring them to market, to eliminate the risks, and to work with possible users, such as architects, designers and promoters, wood promoters in this case.

About a month ago, we opened a pilot plant in Thunder Bay, TMP-Bio. It uses an enzyme process that allows us to make sugars out of cellulose. From the sugars, we produce biochemical products that will replace fossil fuels. We are opening a very different market, a huge market, where biosourced products will play a role in the future. However, it will not happen overnight. We will have to show that the process can work and to reduce the risks that those new products may pose on the markets.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

When we talk about business clusters, we are talking about areas of research and development, innovation and production, and commercialization. Take Cosia in oil production, for example. This is currently one of the best clusters in the country in product diversification.

In your case, what can be done in terms of commercialization, to encourage the wood products industry?

[Jean-Pierre Martel]

Some already-existing programs, including those run by the Canadian Forest Service and by Natural Resources Canada, really allow us to eliminate the risks that these products might pose, to open a pilot plant, to develop a laboratory process, to produce it and to eliminate the risks that might accompany it. There are already programs that help us in that regard—an example is the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program.

Second, they have also launched a program called the Clean Growth Program that will help to eliminate the risks that some technologies pose, and to smooth the path to commercialization. If we are all about innovation, we are going to have to reach the commercialization stage in order to have an economic and socioeconomic impact on employment and to create economic activity. Besides, the role of governments is often to eliminate the risks associated with those technologies and those new products.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

I only have one minute left. Have you given any thought to the role of women, and of indigenous people, in the non-traditional trades? Have you any examples of the ways in which women and indigenous people can be encouraged to become architects and engineers in the industry?

[Jean-Pierre Martel]

I feel that my colleagues from the Forest Products Association of Canada could talk more about that. It is about the workforce, and diversifying the workforce in order to bring people to work in our sector, which is considered a traditional one. But it is not traditional. In terms of new product development, we are dealing with cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose filaments, sugars and new construction systems. It is attracting young people with a lot of potential.

We have had a program providing technical support for indigenous people for 10 years. Our Indigenous Forestry Program was launched in British Columbia and allows us to work directly with the communities to discover business possibilities. We are trying to eliminate the risks and to provide technical support to that development.

We have had a lot of success. We could provide you with a presentation completely on that topic if you wish. It would be our pleasure. We have had a lot of success and we are trying to extend those investment principles and technical assistance across the country. We have already talked to the people from the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs and to the Canadian Forest Service. We are trying to disseminate our very positive experience with the communities and to extend the principles, the program and the success to other provinces.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

We're going to have to cut it off there, unfortunately.

Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. It was very helpful, very interesting, very educational, but that's all the time we have, unfortunately. It's the nature of what we do here. We run too short of time too often, so I apologize for that.

We're going to go in camera for some very brief committee business. We'll just wait a moment until we clear the room, and then we'll get going.

[Proceedings continue in camera]