Mr. Speaker, Quebec's maple syrup industry has modernized its image and set its sights on outside markets.
Quebec alone accounts for 90 per cent of Canadian production, of which 80 per cent, it is estimated, is consumed outside the country. Last year, the industry exported over 20,200 tonnes of maple syrup, 4 per cent more than in 1995, to 32 countries.
During the same period, the value of these exports jumped to $97 million, a 20 per cent increase, and in just four years the value of exports has almost doubled, rising to 84 per cent, an average annual increase of 22 per cent.
These results are attributable to the revitalized methods being adopted by longstanding producers, and the emergence of a series of new and very dynamic enterprises, with different approaches and products, that are targeting a much broader range of niche markets than ever before.