Natural Resources Committee on Nov. 27th, 2025

[Michel Lessard]

Of course, it would be a very interesting measure for us and for the entire forestry industry. It’s something we discussed internally with the other companies. We are quite unanimous that this measure would be very interesting for us.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you for your response. It will be included in our report.

Your response earlier to my colleague Mr. Guay provides some insight. A kind of vicious circle is being created. People in the forestry industry are being told that it might be necessary to move away from the commodity products sector and focus more on value‑added products, which requires investments. However, in the current context, this is not the solution that would help us get out of the crisis, because, as you just mentioned, at your facilities, you’re asking people to do the bare minimum because you don’t have any liquidity.

This situation means you’re somewhat trapped. You can’t make investments to develop new products that would have more added value and that would allow you to develop new markets. At the same time, you’re somewhat trapped by the American market. It’s a situation that I find quite troublesome.

How do we get out of this?

[Michel Lessard]

I’ve been working in this industry for 35 years, and I have probably been hearing about secondary or tertiary processing for 35 years. Caution is needed in this respect.

First, secondary processing requires a viable and solid primary industry. That’s the foundation of everything. Otherwise, it’s like not having a two-by-four to start building something.

Second, the right choice needs to be made when you want to move toward something else. In the past, I’ve seen too many situations where the government helped various types of industries in a particular sector. In doing so, the market is flooded, causing many businesses to close their doors. Care must be taken when making expenditures, and it’s really important to choose them wisely. Of course, many projects are considered, but as you said, it requires liquidity.

As I was saying, if we take this route, financial support will certainly be needed to make the transition.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Most of your products are commodity items.

How long does it take for a company to set up a production line to produce glued laminated timber or cross-laminated timber?

[Michel Lessard]

Whether it’s for that or for any other project, it takes about three years from conception to the start of operations. First, a market and feasibility study must be conducted. Once we think the idea is good, we need to do the engineering, buy the equipment, etc. It’s a fairly long process, and we need to be able to survive during that time.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

I understand.

Ultimately, I want you to say that a majority of sawmills cannot survive this turning point within two or three years. We need to consider a much longer period. Before thinking about completely overhauling the forestry sector, it must be kept alive.

[Michel Lessard]

Given the current economic climate, it’s very difficult to look a bit further ahead. Right now, we’re trying to stay alive and keep our people’s jobs.

Again, we obviously have ideas. Ideas are not rejected. We still have some, we’ve studied several and we’ll continue to study more. However, for now, all our efforts are focused on finding solutions to get out of this crisis.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

If you remember well, during the pandemic, there was a wage subsidy to keep people’s jobs.

Wouldn’t it also give you a bit more breathing room if the government agreed to implement this for the sectors heavily affected by the trade war? Would you support such a measure?

[Michel Lessard]

Yes, absolutely.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

In conclusion, I’d say that there’s a unique dynamic in Quebec. I don’t know if it’s the same in Ontario, but in Quebec, sawmills that produce less than 300,000 cubic metres sell their products on the local market. They don’t export much to the United States.

Earlier, you mentioned something interesting. You said that train transport might allow competition to come in, not to invade, but to occupy local markets that would give you a bit of breathing room.

Is this a phenomenon you see in Ontario, even before the implementation of these incentives?

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Please give a quick response.

[Michel Lessard]

It’s something we’ve already seen, but it’s nonetheless manageable. For now, it’s not a problem.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

We'll now go to our second round.

We have Mr. Malette, followed by Mr. Saini and Monsieur Simard.

I failed to welcome Mr. Diotte and Mr. Saini to our committee. It's the best committee on Parliament Hill. I think you'll all agree. We get along so well.

Mr. Malette, you have six minutes.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Thank you.

Monsieur Lessard, in your introduction, you talked briefly about solutions or things that could be done. Could you go over those, please?

[Michel Lessard]

Yes, we have a lot of solutions.

We have a lot of programs in Ontario. These programs could also be used by the federal government to match the funds. For example, we have the FSIIP in Ontario. The total for that program is $10 million. We just submitted an application to the province, and just our company would need around $12 million. We see that there aren't sufficient funds to respond to all our demands. That's one of them.

Other than that, we're talking about exporting. What happened for decades in the west is that these guys also established pretty good markets and relationships with Japan and China. However, that's not necessarily the case for us with Europe, as I said, or Africa. It's something that we need to develop. We also could develop trade credits. We could develop some warehousing. Again, we need to establish long-term relationships with these guys.

We exported in the past when the market was very difficult in the U.S., but it's tough to maintain a long-term relationship. We need to get some things put in place as a basis, again, to be there for a long time.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Monsieur Simard explained what was being done in Quebec. I don't know if you had the chance to answer on the program of buying back.

[Michel Lessard]

That certainly would be a good idea, to buy back the duties. Is that what you're talking about?

Yes, that would be a great idea. We're at around $80 million just for the countervailing duties. We have probably another $5 million with the tariffs. If you're adding $85 million to our bank account, that would be very helpful.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Mr. Chair, I cede my time to Mr. Tochor.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Okay.

Mr. Tochor.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

It's important to look at the doublespeak and how it hurts Canadian workers. The Liberals claim that we align ourselves with the White House. We align ourselves with Canadian workers. When the Liberals talk out of one side of their mouth, it benefits them when they attack America; out of the other side, they claim to be working on a trade deal. What results is a political gain for the Liberal Party and a loss for our country. Canadians are waking up.

[Claude Guay, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Mr. Chair, are we talking about the Liberals or the government?

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

It's your time, Mr. Tochor.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

How much time do I have left now?