On the issue of purchasing the duty deposits, I speak to the provincial government here in British Columbia fairly regularly, and the way they look at the duty deposits the Canadian companies have put at the border is as almost a receivable to us. Historically, that has come back if we went through the regular legal channels or had a negotiated settlement.
This idea has been floated several times by people across the country in order to get liquidity, and, Mr. Simard, the one thing I would like to stress is that we are in an urgent situation. I would certainly like to hold out for a good deal for fear of taking a bad deal, but I need to point out to everyone on the committee that we are in the bad deal right now. We have companies that are facing 45%. Canfor, one of the largest companies in the country, is paying 55%, and they're virtually not able to ship to the U.S. very much anymore.
The idea of the purchasing of the deposits is just a way to provide liquidity that is not a loan and is secured somewhat by the money that Canadian companies have already put in.
Yes, I agree that it's a hard pill to swallow to say, “Yes, there's $13 billion out there that we have all paid”. In fact, as you know, there are hedge fund companies from the United States that are coming to Canadian companies and saying, “We're going to give you guys 30% of what you paid for the first four years if you sign over that receivable to us”, because they are expecting more than 30% to come back.
It's funny how politics works sometimes. The financial markets sometimes don't lie. There is a receivable out there somewhere, and I think that what you suggested is probably a good idea.