Debates of Feb. 5th, 2008

Finance

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy the political jousting between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party about “my corporate tax cuts are bigger than your corporate tax cuts”. In my community of Hamilton, which is Steeltown, they are focusing on a very small part of the report we are debating today.

I did not hear the member speak about other parts of the report, the recognition of foreign credentials. This would make a really profound difference in the lives of a number of newcomers, not just in my community but right across the country.

I did not hear anything at all about support, for example, for the building trades, which have mobile workers. They asked both the former Liberal government and the current government for meaningful tax credits that would allow them to subsidize their accommodation and travel expenditures so they could take work that would be available in other parts of the country.

Support for post-secondary education and training has been not mentioned by either of those two parties.

What about anti-dumping legislation? A motion was before the House this morning to expedite a $1 billion fund to communities in crisis. While we applaud that, it does nothing for Hamilton because we are more than a one industry town.

Nonetheless, we have lost thousands and thousands of decent paying industrial jobs. Our community is being devastated, and all I am hearing this morning is “my corporate tax cuts are bigger than yours”. That does not speak to the needs of my community. Would the member elaborate on that?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the intervention from the hon. member. In a 10 minute speech there are only so many subjects one can cover. However, I agree with her completely about the importance of streamlining the recognition of foreign credentials.

Labour mobility within Canada is something with which the federal government ought to be seized, working with provincial governments to bring down those barriers and to help ensure more seamless movement of people within Canada and for talent to come to Canada. They are both very important issues.

On foreign credentials, we ought to look at the U.K. model. Foreign nationals can begin their professional accreditation in their country of origin such that by the time they come to Canada much of that work, if not all of it, has been completed. This kind of innovative approach is one that we should do. I share with the member the focus on post-secondary education and lifelong learning as competitiveness.

In terms of the corporate tax issue, we can stand for better post-secondary education, lifelong learning, better labour mobility and streamlining foreign credentials and still believe that tax competitiveness, corporate and personal, is important. That is where I would differ with her.

Unlike the Canadian New Democrats, other social democratic parties around the world, whether it be in the U.K. with the Labour Party or in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland, have embraced progressive social policy and innovative competitiveness policy.

Therefore, it is not impossible for a political party or a country to embrace both the need to be competitive to create the revenues to actually grow the economy and to make the kinds of innovative social investments of which the member speaks. We have to do both.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to set the facts straight for the hon. member. We all realize we have this competitiveness issue in Canada right now because of the exchange rate. There is no question that the weak U.S. dollar has driven currencies, not only in Canada but currencies around the world, up. This makes all of us less competitive against U.S. businesses. We have to realize that fact. Measures have definitely been taken by the Bank of Canada to reduce rates in the hope of balancing off the pressure of the rising and escalating dollar. This volatility hurts everyone in Canada who is manufacturing and exporting products. Therefore, we have to be serious about what is happening.

Our government has taken serious steps forward and has provided over $9 billion in support.

We have provided the $1 billion to assist one industry towns through the community trust. This will help communities look at new ways to be innovative and to ensure their local economies thrive. I represent a rural area and I know many communities in my riding will embrace this.

We have provided $8 billion in tax relief. This tax relief really helps the competitiveness issues that we face.

We have provided $1.3 billion for the accelerated capital gain write-off. This will help businesses acquire new equipment. We renewed that in the last budget, and we know it will help people retool and become more competitive. We have already seen that happen in the meat industry in Manitoba. Packers have gone out and bought new technology, very expensive robotics, and this has really helped them.

The $2.5 billion in corporate tax reductions have now brought us down to the lowest level—

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

I have to give the hon. member for Kings—Hants a brief opportunity to respond.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, first, in terms of the accelerated capital cost allowance, I agree that having accelerated the capital allowance makes sense, in light of the decline of the American dollar, to encourage Canadian manufacturers to invest in productivity enhancement and to build competitiveness during a difficult time. That is why I believe the government ought to have made it a permanent as opposed to a two year program.

The difficulty with having it as a two year program is we force manufacturers, which make these kinds of massive capital investment decisions over the long term, to accelerate their decision making and their purchases to a two year period, which is a very short period. This is not sensible. It is not good business. That is why Canadian manufacturers are looking for a permanent, or at least a five year, accelerated capital cost allowance.

Second, the member boasted about the government's $1 billion program for communities, which was brought forward several weeks ago. The fact is that $1 billion program was brought forward to replace a $1.5 billion Liberal program that the Conservative government killed—

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Sault Ste. Marie.

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity this morning to talk to this very critical and crucial issue, particularly as it concerns the working men, women and families of this country in small town Canada, where their economies and lives are so dependent on one major industry and how today in our world, in this Canada of great wealth, many of them find themselves hanging on by their fingernails.

Some towns are actually making plans to wind down. People and families made investments in their homes, cottages, camps and small businesses based on the understanding that if they got up in the morning to go to work and worked hard, and if the company they worked for acted in the best interests of everybody concerned, they would have jobs, and jobs for a long time to come, only to realize in the last couple of years that this in fact is not the case any more. The rules have changed and, what is most important in the discussion we are having today, governments have turned their backs on them.

We have to look at this question in the context of what has been happening to the resource based economy of this country over the last 10 to 15 years. It has been ignored. The investments that used to be there to make sure of those industries, which have supported the larger economy of Canada over the years so ably and so well, are no longer available.

The financial institutions and government agencies put in place over the years to be there in just such circumstances now have found a new suitor, a new attraction, in the evolving and very exciting virtual economy, the e-commerce economy, the IT economy that began to flow out there and gave people a return on investment almost immediately.

What we were looking for in small town Canada and particularly in northern Ontario was an opportunity to restructure in these new circumstances, but alas, the money was not there. Now we find ourselves at the last hour with a government that has finally woken up to the fact that it needs to act, however modestly, and act immediately.

We also need to speak about this issue in the context of the priorities of not only this government but previous governments over the last 10 or 15 years as well. At a time when this country was generating some significant wealth, and some would say great wealth, rather than investing in the kind of infrastructure and change that would give small town Canada a chance in the global economy, it was decided that it was more important to deliver corporate tax breaks to friends and benefactors of government. Not just this government did that. This goes back 10 or 15 years to the previous government as well.

That is what was done. Instead of using the significant money that government was generating over those years through the healthy tax system and tax base to reposition ourselves, to put in place those vehicles that small towns and resource based companies needed if they were to have a future and be able to make decisions that were positive and constructive in the long haul, that is what was done.

We needed those investments made instead of having the priority that obviously was out there, and still continues to be out there, which is that money that is so desperately needed, particularly in smaller communities and resource based sectors of our country like those of northern Ontario, has been put into corporate tax breaks that will never ever have any positive impact on the areas of the country that we are speaking about here today. I represent and speak about those very areas as the FedNor critic for the New Democratic Party caucus.

We also need to look at this issue from the perspective of the very human impact that this is having on communities. In my own region of northern Ontario, I know this, and I know it when I speak to people such as our members from British Columbia, who represent large tracts of rural British Columbia, and our members from New Brunswick, particularly the northern part of New Brunswick, who also speak on behalf of small towns that are dependent for their very lives on the resource sector. I know that this is having some very major and personal impacts on men and women, families, relationships and communities.

I spoke before the Standing Committee on Finance as it entertained a motion by the Bloc to flow some of the excessive surplus in the government's EI account. The Bloc suggested that perhaps some money might be freed up in these difficult and dire circumstances to help older workers, for example, who have to deal with the impact of this reality.

I shared with the committee the names of some towns in northern Ontario that have been impacted so that we could put a face on this issue in a more meaningful way. These towns now are desperate for any assistance they can get and very clearly are looking to the federal government because it is the vehicle with access to the most money in our system of doing business on behalf of the public and the public good.

I mentioned companies such as Tembec in Smooth Rock Falls, where 230 people have lost their jobs. Also, 65 people have lost their jobs at Tembec in Kapuskasing. In Opasatika, Excel eliminated 78 jobs. Tembec in Timmins eliminated 100 jobs. Columbia Forest Products in Hearst eliminated 76 jobs. Domtar in Chapleau cut 67 jobs. Cascades in Thunder Bay cut 500 jobs. Bowater in Thunder Bay cut 257 jobs. These jobs represent men and women who get up every morning, go to work and work hard, come back home and try to put food on the table and pay the rent for their families in their northern Ontario communities.

Another 100 jobs at Bowater were cut and it just announced the elimination of another 512 jobs. Smurfit Stone Consolidated in Kenora, a community I visited just a week or so ago, eliminated 350 jobs. At Devlin Timber in Kenora, 45 jobs are gone. Again in Kenora, at Weyerhaeuser 41 jobs are gone. Norampac in Redrock cut 300 jobs. Patricia Logging in Dryden cut 35 jobs. At Weyerhaeuser and Domtar in Dryden, 510 jobs were lost.

Uniboard in New Liskeard lost 55 jobs. Bowater Woodland in Ignace lost 25 jobs. At ForestCare, in Wawa, the town I was brought up in, 63 jobs are gone. Weyerhaeuser in Sturgeon Falls cut 125 jobs. Domtar in Espanola-Nairn Centre cut 250 jobs. Domtar in Cornwall cut 910 jobs. Domtar in Ottawa cut 185 jobs. Domtar in White River cut 236 jobs. Interlake Paper in St. Catharines lost 45 jobs. Sturgeon Timber in Dorion cut 70 jobs. Longlac Wood Industries in Longlac cut 350 jobs. Columbia Forest Products in Rutherglen lost 63 jobs.

Those numbers add up to over 5,200 jobs in the last few months. All of these jobs are just gone. As I said before, these are jobs that represent men, women and families across this province, and particularly in northern Ontario, people who have children and communities, people who are hanging on by their fingernails. They are desperate in regard to what they could and should be doing. They are looking for help. They are looking for some assistance during these difficult times.

Anecdotal stories are being told in some parts of northern Ontario about some of our richer neighbours, particularly those to the south, who are now coming into these areas and looking to buy summer homes or cottages. They are using credit cards to pick up homes that were purchased as major investments by these northern Ontario families over the years as they thought they could bring up their families and retire there. They also had hoped to be able to turn over their homes to their families so that they could take advantage of it as well.

Today, there are men, women and families, across northern Ontario in particular, having to walk away not only from their jobs but from the major investments they have made in their homes, their cottages and camps and, in some instances, small businesses. That is the situation.

We have very tough circumstances where the resource sector is concerned, particularly the forestry sector at this time. We have a government that seems more interested in rolling out tax breaks for those who do not need them, who already have enough, thanks very much, at a time when it should be investing in infrastructure and coming to the aid of some of these communities that we at this end of the House all speak about so directly, personally and passionately.

This is also being done in the context of a previous Liberal government that entertained a forestry coalition lobby, so the Liberals cannot say they did not know about this. In fact, the Conservative caucus of the day, which is now government, was lobbied at the same time. The NDP also was lobbied by a forestry coalition from northern Ontario. It told us three years ago that this was coming, that the impacts were already being felt, the government needed to come to the table and there needed to be a summit of some sort, a gathering of folks to sit down and figure out where we would go next in these very challenging and trying circumstances.

I believe the coalition was asking for something like $2.5 billion over a three year period in order to afford the investments that its members felt they needed to make in new technology, in re-situating themselves and restructuring plants and in dealing with employment issues in their towns.

What did coalition members get from the then Liberal government? At the end of the day, they got a deathbed promise of $1.5 billion, but once the Conservative government got into power, we discovered that was not rooted in any note to treasury. In fact, there really was no money dedicated. It was just a promise on paper that was delivered knowing there was an election coming, just so the Liberals could speak about it in the parts of this country where it would be important.

That was playing politics with the lives of men, women and communities in a most despicable way. There was no commitment. There was no real effort. There was no work done to make sure that even the last deathbed commitment the Liberals made would have to be honoured by whatever government was in power after the election.

Then what did we get? We got a government that finally woke up to the fact that there may be a problem in our forestry sector. Just after Christmas as we were returning to this place, the government said it was willing to roll out $1 billion to these communities, these companies and this sector, but it was going to be tied to whether the opposition parties would support the government and pass the budget, which will come down later this winter or in early spring.

We in the NDP saw it as a form of blackmail, with the government saying that it would do this but we had to pass its budget. We must understand that none of us know what else is in the budget. There again could be billions more in corporate tax breaks, which we know is not in the best interests of communities, particularly these communities, in this country. At the end of the day we might not be able to support the budget, even though we understand that this $1 billion, aside from the fact it is not near enough, might go a ways in dealing with at least some of the issues and challenges that folks are facing.

After hearing about the $1 billion and how it was tied to the budget, the government heard those of us who stood in the House over the last couple of weeks asking it to deliver it, to get it out there and to not hold it back. We said that the money was needed yesterday. We said that it needed to get it out today so that communities could have some hope. Members of the Bloc also asked for it and we appreciated the support.

The government finally capitulated and made the announcement yesterday, which is why we are standing here today as a caucus saying that we will support this even though we know, and anybody in the forestry sector looking at the tremendous challenge that is now in front of us know, that some three, four or five years later after they raised the flag for the government initially, that it will not be enough.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union had the following to say after the announcement of the $1 billion:

Today’s announcement doesn’t even put a stitch in the wound of an industry that is bleeding jobs. “We need a national strategy for forestry that will help workers, industry and communities rejuvenate the sector through creation of value-added jobs from the resource,” he adds. “Clearly governments should invest in the development of new and innovative products”.

It goes on to say:

“We need a national summit of all stakeholders in the industry,” ... noting that he is already in discussions with some company presidents on this and other renewal initiatives.

The leaders with whom I met, in northwestern Ontario particularly, are in agreement with the need for a summit and a national forestry strategy to be put in place and the kind of money necessary then to be put on the table to support the plan going forward.

CEP goes on to say:

We have asked repeatedly for meetings with politicians of all stripes — we even went to their house -- the House of Commons -- and invited them to come and talk to our forestry symposium a year ago. But our calls for a thoughtful approach to the crisis have been largely ignored.

It goes on to say:

Among the specific measures that CEP has called for are joint union, management and government task forces on the future of mills.

CEP is also looking at calling the companies back to the bargaining table a year earlier than scheduled in response to the crisis in the forest sector.

All of the people engaged, the workers, the community leaders, the unions and even some of the company owners have been telling us and the government for quite some time that something substantial needs to be done if we are to salvage this sector of our economy that has been so important. It has been the bedrock of the Canadian economy for many years. They are saying, as the New Democratic caucus believes, that forestry will continue to be a bedrock for the Canadian economy going forward, particularly if it is managed properly in a sustainable fashion and using all the intelligence and new technology that is available and bring that forward to the equation.

I would like to tell the folks who are listening, particularly those who are living in some of these very damaged and troubled small communities, that they should not let anyone tell them that it cannot be done because it has been done before. I remember, and I shared this with the finance committee yesterday, being in government in Ontario in the early 1990s when a huge recession hit. Resource based companies across northern Ontario were asking for help from the government of that day. The governments came to the table, not only the provincial government, of which I was part, but the federal government as well. It was a federal government of a Conservative stripe as well as federal government of the Liberal stripe because in 1993 there was a change. Those governments came to the table and participated in a way that saw many companies that were on the ropes and in bankruptcy, revive and, in fact, still operating today and some of them are very healthy.

In my own community there was Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma Steel, St. Marys Paper and the ACR that the government, unions, financiers and owners of the companies made commitments.

I was at a retirement party on Saturday night in Sudbury for Shelley Martel, who was the minister of northern development and mines at the time in the Ontario government of the NDP. She spoke very passionately, knowledgeably and eloquently at that particular point in time about the work that went on in northern Ontario to save so many really important companies and industrial enterprises in that part of the country.

I say to my colleagues in the House today that it can be done again. The $1 billion is important and we should get it out there, but it is not enough. More needs to be done.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in my experience, for every complex problem there is a simple solution and it is wrong.

The member talks a fair bit about the forestry industry and says that $1 billion are not enough. The industry across the country has said that very clearly. To Canadians, $1 billion is a large number, but when we look at the number of people impacted in these resource sectors, it does not have the impact that will make a real difference to the inevitable if there are no real solutions, so to that extent I agree.

However as a principle, I do not think we can harness a particular initiative in a committee report or a committee study that will address everything all at once. If we have the manufacturing sector, particularly in Ontario or Quebec, that will be hammered because of the financial pressures and the job losses that will occur from there, there is no simple solution for that.

If we believe that we need to deal with climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, there is a significant linkage to health issues and to our responsibilities as a country. If we were to spend the money there would that be the right place to spend it? Not all of it, but how much?

We could look at the employment situation. These are some of the issues and there are many different aspects.

I wonder if the member would agree that a balanced approach, which is fiscally responsible to ensure we do not get into a deficit scenario, which would not give us the wiggle room to help anybody, is the best approach.

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would agree with the member that it is not a simple challenge and there is no simple solution, but I am hoping he is not saying that it cannot be done because it has been done before where we have had regions and sectors of our economy in big trouble.

I go back again to the recession of the early nineties when we were the government in Ontario. We came with all guns blazing and brought all the people to the table. It was difficult and hard work negotiating a restructured company in all of those instances but we did it and we were successful. Each one of those companies, without exception, came out from under that blanket of protection to become profitable and successful again.

As a matter of fact, if we look today at northern Ontario, we will find that with each one of those industries, where the union, the government, the ownership, management and financial institutions were brought to the table with leadership and resources from the provincial and federal governments, there was great success.

I am suggesting that the $1 billion today is a start. It would get us on the road. More will be needed but, even more important, as the CEP has said and which I read into the record this morning, we need a summit of all the folks involved and who have a responsibility, and we need a commitment to a national forestry strategy in this country that will take us down that road. No, it is not simple but it can be done.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech with interest. However, it is the strength of conviction that he demonstrated yesterday, particularly during a debate on similar motions at the Standing Committee on Finance, that I would like to highlight. That is the kind of spirit that we wanted to bring to this House.

At present, citizens throughout Quebec and Canada are looking for their government to take a dynamic approach to helping the manufacturing and forestry industries. I know that we are badly in need of a real industrial strategy, something that is lacking in the current government's approach. Nevertheless, we should realize that a few months ago we went through a period where the Minister of Finance said that everything was fine, everything was rosy and that since everything was going well in the energy sector, everything else, including the manufacturing industry, would take care of itself.

This morning, businesses launched a newspaper campaign asking for exactly the same thing we want—refundable tax credits, among other things, for research and development.

I would like to hear what my colleague has to say. Beyond the need for an industrial strategy, is it not important for the House to make a decision today, to vote on the report and force the government to actually put proactive measures in place—the measures proposed by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology almost a year ago and recommended by the Standing Committee on Finance? We are still waiting for the Minister of Finance to take action in this regard.

Do the people in his riding not expect much more than the $1 billion finally announced this morning, which we managed to separate from the budget? Now, that much has been accomplished. But should we not do much more than this and do it quickly?

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we need to reclaim the spirit that existed in the early nineties when the federal and provincial governments came together with the unions, the communities and the leaders to negotiate deals to restructure Algoma Steel, St. Marys Paper, the Algoma Central Railway in Sault Ste. Maria, Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company in Kapuskasing, Bombardier and Provincial Papers in Thunder Bay, the Atikokan Forest Products Ltd. and Proboard Ltd. in Sapawe, Ontario and 21 other sawmills across the north where the banks had pulled their lines of credit.

The provincial government of the day passed worker ownership legislation to permit the people of Kapuskasing to invest in their mill and in their future. At that time, as well, the provincial government had the political will to maximize the resources of Ontario Hydro to help both Elliot Lake and Kapuskasing manage difficult change and went on to further expand the role and mandate of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation so that it could really respond to those companies in need.

What I am saying is that we do not need anyone to tell us, those communities and those areas of the country that are struggling because of this forestry crisis that we are in, that it cannot be done. It can been done. It has been done before and we can do it again.

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important contribution to the debate today on the concurrence motion on the report from the industry committee about manufacturing in Canada.

It is very important what he has been saying about the need for a particular sectoral approach to deal with the manufacturing industries in Canada. Our member on the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology made the point in his supplementary to the report that there was nothing in the recommendations of the report that dealt with specific sectoral strategies.

For a long time New Democrats have called for specific sectoral manufacturing strategies for the auto sector, shipbuilding, forestry and the textile industry, among others. Unfortunately, the recommendations of the report ignore that.

Given the experience that the member had in the Ontario government in the 1990s where that kind of approach bore real fruit in terms of dealing with the communities affected by a recession, could the member talk about why he thinks that approach is still largely ignored by our federal government and why the federal government will not engage in a sectoral strategy and why it will not put these kinds of plans in place when his experience has shown that they are so effective?

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it goes back to the Conservatives' very ideological stance where business and industry are concerned, which is to let the market decide. If we had decided that was the way to go back in the early 1990s, there would be no Algoma Steel to be bought up by Essar Global and to be looking at further investments in our community and contributing to the economy of northern Ontario. There would be no Spruce Falls in Kapuskasing putting out paper any more.

As a matter of fact, I remember at that time the then leader of the official opposition in Ontario, Mr. Harris, who went on to be the premier of Ontario, saying to let the steel industry go, that it was a buggy whip industry. All of us who lived in Sault Ste. Marie and who lived in northern Ontario knew that those industries were still viable, that people were still out there buying steel and making things out of steel and steel needed to be made somewhere, so why not in our communities? Why not northern Ontario when it comes to manufacturing? Why not the Niagara Peninsula? Why not make things in Hamilton and Welland that we can sell in our domestic market and the world market? An example would be the wonderful job the workers in Windsor do in making cars. They have invested so much time and energy in training and getting the knowledge they need to be the best at what they do.

Here is a government today that has thrown up its arms and said that the market will decide. If the market is to decide on so many of those fronts, as it is, and government does not come to the table and give some leadership, if it does not provide some resources and enter into sectoral strategies, we will be the drawers of water and the hewers of wood as is so often spoken of in those books written about Canadians by people who know nothing about us.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank my colleague from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup for moving concurrence in this committee report. His timing could not be any better since the government asked the unanimous consent of the House this morning to pass a bill aimed at creating a trust that will be available to the provinces—and to Quebec—whose manufacturing and forestry industries are in trouble.

All the opposition parties gave their consent because this is a small step toward a real strategy to help the manufacturing and forestry industries. No one in this House, except for the Conservatives, and that includes the Prime Minister, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Finance, can imagine that this will be enough. Let us not be mistaken about that.

This motion brought forward by my colleague from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup will allow us today, in the minutes following the adoption, by unanimous consent, of the bill creating the trust, to set things straight for those who may not have a good grasp of the situation.

The report in which my colleague moved concurrence clearly shows the willingness of opposition parties—and hopefully the government will adopt the same attitude—to be extremely precise with regard to a number of solutions and proposals that would really help the manufacturing and forestry industries.

The motion passed on November 28 by the Standing Committee on Finance states, and I quote:

—the Standing Committee on Finance recommends that the government promptly introduce the tax measures in the unanimous report of February 2007 entitled Manufacturing: Moving Forward — Rising to the Challenge, and that the adoption of this motion be reported to the House at the earliest opportunity.

Today seems to me to be the first and the perfect opportunity to do so since Parliament has reconvened. I will say again that it puts into context the bill passed this morning to establish a trust which will provide $1 billion over three years to all the provinces, including Quebec.

Let me also repeat that the Conservative plan had three flaws, and by “plan” I mean the beginnings of one made public in January. The first flaw is the Prime Minister's attempt to blackmail the sectors, regions, communities and workers affected by the crisis in the manufacturing and forestry sectors, and parliamentarians as well, for partisan purposes.

Aggressively pounding his fist on the table, the Prime Minister declared that, if the opposition parties wanted the plan, as rudimentary as it was, they would first have to swallow the bitter pill of the upcoming Conservative budget. Given that Conservative budgets may contain all sorts of things that are difficult to digest and which can sometimes be extremely harmful to the economic and social health of Canada and Quebec, no one gave in to his blackmail. None of the opposition parties in this House has given the Conservative government, the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance a blank cheque by agreeing to support the budget because it represents the beginnings of an aid package for the manufacturing sector. This kind of blackmail was in fact denounced in all the regions of Quebec, as I assume it was in all regions of Canada as well.

In view of the consensus in Quebec and under pressure from the Bloc Québécois and labour, the Prime Minister backtracked. Even the Ontario government was behind us on that. Premier McGuinty described the blackmail as nonsense, saying that it was inappropriate at a time when tens of thousands of individuals and their families are going through extremely tough times.

There are two other problems with the Conservative plan that have yet to be solved. The government must be very aware of the fact that even though there was unanimous consent of the House to pass the bill that creates the trust, we will remain vigilant and we will not stop applying pressure. The motion brought forward by my colleague from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup today is totally in this spirit, as was the one from the member for Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord that was debated yesterday during private members business. That motion proposed a strong, detailed, effective and realistic assistance plan for the forestry industry.

The finance committee report before us today mirrors some of the proposals made by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. A number of solutions are available to the government. Motions are currently being considered in five parliamentary committees and all of these motions offer solutions to the problem.

The government must understand that now that this trust that will provide $1 billion over three years has been created, it must immediately announce further measures, which it can afford to do. I will remind the House that, in his budget statement, the Minister of Finance announced surpluses for March 31. We are not talking months or years here, but a few weeks.

These projections will be achieved, or close to it. In the budget statement, the Minister of Finance announced surpluses totalling $11.6 billion. The government is now putting $1 billion in the trust for community assistance—I do not remember the exact name of that trust. This leaves $10.6 billion that could be used to make the plan a whole lot better.

As members know, we proposed to use these $4.5 billion for various initiatives. I will get back to this later on in my speech. So, there will still be money left to pay off the debt, to help the elderly, and to make necessary investments for the environment. That money is available and we do not want it to be fully applied against the debt.

Let us not forget that, as we are speaking, Canada has the lowest debt load among G-7 countries. Some huge efforts were made over the past 10 years. It is now time to look after those to whom the Quebec society, the Canadian society, the federal government and all politicians are indebted, namely the people and the communities—often one industry towns—whose jobs and future are threatened by business closures. We must help the unemployed, who were hit extremely hard by the budget cuts made in the nineties.

As a society, whether it is the Canadian or Quebec society, we are indebted to these people, and the time has come to use the government's anticipated $10.6 billion surpluses to pay off that debt. We know full well that, in the end, there will still be about $3 billion left to put against the debt. It would be totally illogical from an economic point of view, irresponsible from a financial point of view, and inhuman from a social point of view to use all of these $10.6 billion to pay off the debt.

As I mentioned, the motion before us proposes measures that can be implemented immediately. There is no need to wait for the budget. The money is there and we know that it will be available. Over the next few days, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Industry and the Prime Minister are going to announce new measures to help the manufacturing and forestry sectors. So, we must not wait, because everyone, in every region of Quebec and, I suppose, of Canada, feels that what the Conservative government and the Prime Minister announced in January is insufficient.

So we do not need to wait and see whether it actually will be insufficient, as the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec said yesterday. Everyone can see that it is. He himself opened the door to the fact that this first step, this draft plan for aid to the manufacturing and forestry sectors, was insufficient and that more money was needed in the budget. We cannot wait for the budget. First, we do not know when the budget will happen. There has been no indication in that regard from the Minister of Finance or the government. Every day, every week that goes by brings new human tragedies, new closings and new layoffs. So if we do not want to find ourselves in an even more catastrophic situation, we have to act now.

As I said, the second flaw in the Conservative plan, after the government engaged in this political blackmail, is the fact, and this is still true, that the amounts announced are plainly not enough. It should be at least as much as $4.5 billion from this year’s surplus. As I said, $1 billion has been allocated to create this trust and that leaves at least $3.5 billion to be invested. As I said, that leaves money for other priorities, such as retroactive payment of the guaranteed income supplement for people who failed to apply because they were not informed, and also investments for the environment.

Obviously, we want to see new announcements by the government in the budget to supplement what will be done. We are very aware of the fact that in the next fiscal year the surplus could be a little lower than $11.6 billion and that it will probably be more like $8 billion. It would therefore be wise, in fiscal terms, to use the latitude there is now to invest in the recovery of the manufacturing and forestry sectors.

There is still a third flaw in the Conservative plan: the per capita allocation formula we have been told about. This makes no sense. When we had the mad cow crisis, there was no per capita fund announced. Instead, there was a response to the particular needs of western Canada and Alberta, regions that were more affected than others or than Quebec. Quebec would obviously have liked to have more for its producers, but preference was given to the regions and provinces where the problem was concentrated.

In this case, although manufacturing is essentially located in Quebec and Ontario, it has been announced that funding will be on a per capita basis and not according to needs. That means that Alberta will receive more money per person than Quebec. And yet we know that the manufacturing sector is three times larger in Quebec than in Alberta. This makes no sense. Prince Edward Island will receive three times more than Quebec. This is completely unfair and illogical on the part of the Conservatives. The situation must be remedied.

As I said, in Quebec, the manufacturing sector accounts for about 17% of jobs and 21% of income from employment, and that is nearly three times higher than in Alberta. This sector is currently in trouble. They know, as I do, that a majority of the job losses that have occurred in the last two years in the manufacturing sector were in Quebec. They know, as I do, that 93% of the job losses throughout the entire Canadian manufacturing industry occurred in Ontario and Quebec. However, those two provinces would receive aid on a per capita basis.

Obviously, since Ontario has a somewhat higher population than the other provinces and Quebec, it will receive a considerable amount of money that will still be insufficient. We must not forget that there is a major crisis in the automobile industry, and it will only get worse. But proportionately, Quebec is currently experiencing more serious difficulties. A number of our sectors, such as the forestry sector, are vulnerable because of trade disputes and decisions over which they have no control bequeathed to us by American protectionist lobbies.

So, this allocation formula is completely unfair. I am happy to see that there is perhaps a glimmer of intelligence and foresight. Are the Conservatives seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Perhaps they were on the road to Damascus like St. Paul. Who knows. But in the bill creating the trust, there is no mention of how the money will be allocated, which, I hope, gives the government an opportunity to put things right after the Prime Minister's disastrous and unfair announcements. The $1 billion should be allocated based on need. Since Quebec is experiencing more difficulties, it should receive at least half of the money. As I said, half of the job losses have been in Quebec.

In addition to the $3.5 billion that we would like to see added to the aid package, we would like the distribution of those funds to be based on need so that we do not end up in a bizarre situation that sees Alberta, with its overheated economy, receive money to deal with the economic crisis. That would make no sense at all. That has to change, just as things had to change when the Prime Minister made the act to create the trust and distribute the $1 billion that was allocated over three years conditional on support for the budget.

We hope that the Conservative Prime Minister will change his mind about this unfair distribution, just as he did in that particular case of political blackmail. I am pleased to see that the Bloc Québécois' pressure has produced results. I would like to quote the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, the member for Jonquière—Alma, who said the following in Le Quotidien this morning:

It seems that nothing can be done about the Bloc Québécois' refusal to support the next budget. We had to find another solution to help workers who need help right now to get through the forestry crisis. The Prime Minister's proposed notice of motion would give $217 million to Quebec.

I would like to point out that $217 million over three years is about $70 million per year and about $35 million for each sector, forestry and manufacturing. As the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec said, nobody is going to be sitting down to a steak dinner. Instead, people will be handed a bowl of stale peanuts to snack on. Even so, in the remarks I just quoted, theMinister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec recognizes that the Bloc Québécois' firm stance persuaded the government to think things over and realize that there would be a price to pay politically and electorally. Thank goodness this is a minority government. To avoid paying the price, they realized that they had to separate the aid program, the creation of the trust, from the budget. As the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec said, the only reason the government decided to act was that the Bloc Québécois refused to back down.

In today's edition of Le Devoir, February 5, 2008, the same minister said:

I asked the Bloc Québécois if they were going to support the budget or not and their silence clearly demonstrated that they had no intention of supporting the budget. Thus, under the circumstances, we must act responsibly. That is why we are going to introduce the bill, just to be sure.

That said, once again, we see the determination of the Bloc Québécois at the root of this particular matter. We cannot take all the credit, but this is a perfect example of how the Bloc Québécois serves the people of Quebec.

I must say that the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec is entirely mistaken. Our decision to support or oppose the upcoming budget will be determined by what is in the budget. We have no ideological prejudices, unlike the Conservatives. We asked for a number of things, including measures to help the manufacturing sector.

If they appear in the budget, our party has no problem voting in favour of the budget, as we did last year hon. members will recall. I was the Bloc Québécois finance critic at the time. I had made it clear that we wanted to see a financial solution to the fiscal imbalance. This did not resolve the fiscal imbalance and the members opposite should not, as usual, make the mistake of thinking that it did. We were looking for a financial solution of $3.9 billion for the third year. In the budget, there was $3.3 billion for the third year. The Bloc Québécois felt very comfortable voting in favour of the budget, as a first step toward a final settlement of the fiscal imbalance. This would require a withdrawal of the federal spending power in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction and would also require negotiations for the transfer of tax room used by the federal government to Quebec and the provinces that want it, for instance.

As proposed by the Séguin commission, our proposal involves transferring the GST to Quebec. That transfer should be orderly, coordinated and disciplined, unlike the government's approach of reducing the GST by one percentage point a year and telling the provinces to move into the room created. That is not what we are talking about. We mean a real, coordinated transfer of the GST.

Naturally, it is going to take some income tax points to ensure that Quebec will have the tax room required to assume its responsibilities. In exchange, Quebec is prepared to relinquish funding from the federal government for health, post-secondary education and social programs. Equalization payments will not be touched. That is in the Constitution and is another matter. They represent an unconditional transfer, which is what Quebec wants.

Although the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec was right when he said that the Bloc Québécois forced the government to take action, he is wrong to believe that we will vote against the budget. If the budget contained measures affecting, for example, refundable tax credits to help companies that do research and development but that do not turn a profit, or if it announced that the accelerated capital cost allowance, which is now over two years, was extended to five years, we would support these measures. All these measures are found in the report of the Standing Committee on Finance, which accepted the recommendations already made by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.

As we can see, the solutions are known and the money is there given forecast surpluses. We will be able to include other measures in the budget. The only missing component is the political will of the Conservatives and of the Prime Minister. Let us hope that pressure from Quebec society, the consensus in Quebec, will force this government to take action in the interests of Quebec, the manufacturing and forestry industries and the workers in those industries.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by congratulating the hon. member for Joliette, for the quality and relevance of his remarks.

At this point, I think it is quite appropriate to show and reaffirm that the Canadian government has the means to take action, and that it must do so right away. The crisis is going on now, and people are suffering now.

I have a question for my colleague. He spoke very briefly about the impact of this on workers. For example, the measures proposed by the Bloc include $1.5 billion to help workers. Out of that amount, $60 million would be allocated to POWA, the Program for Older Worker Adjustment. When plants shut down, 20% of the workers affected are over 55 years of age. I wonder if my colleague could elaborate on the relevancy of this measure.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Chambly—Borduas for his question, because it gives me the opportunity to talk about an issue that I really care about.

As the member for the riding of Joliette, I have to deal with two plant closures, in the town of Saint-Michel-des-Saints. Indeed, Louisiana Pacific decided to shut down its two plants, in August 2006. These closures occurred some time ago, and about 250 workers lost their jobs. We are talking here about a sawmill and a waferboard plant.

Many of the workers who were laid off had worked for these plants for 30 years, and they cannot easily retrain, because they have basic training and not enough education. Moreover, even if these people are willing to leave the area and move, for example, to the south of the Lanaudière region, or to the greater Montreal region, employers will give priority to young people, rather than to older workers who are near the end of their working years, in order to have some continuity.

However, these workers have a right to be able to remain in the community to which they brought a contribution for several decades.

There was a program prior to 1998, but it was abolished by the Liberals. At the time, they announced that they would set up another program. Yet, 10 years later, we are still waiting. The program would help workers who cannot be retrained to finish up their professional career with dignity and receive income from public or private pension plans. I believe that this measure would not only mitigate personal economic insecurity—these people face hardships—and family problems, but it would also help retain communities capable of moving towards other niches.

Take Saint-Michel-des-Saints, for example. A large number of recreation and tourism projects are being studied. Let us give these projects the time needed to develop so that more young people will find employment. We must not have any illusions. It will take several years for northern Lanaudière to become an international recreation and tourism centre.

These workers should be able to finish up their career with dignity with the implementation of an income support program for older workers, better known as the older worker adjustment program. That is the best solution in economic, financial and human terms.

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the member has been saying about workers in communities affected by crises in the manufacturing industries and how they are interested in staying in their home communities and how we should be doing whatever we can to ensure that is possible. However, there are other workers in all regions who are interested in travelling and taking up jobs in other parts of the country.

One of the things the body of the report that we are debating talks about is labour mobility. Unfortunately, there are no recommendations that deal specifically with labour mobility, recommendations like the private member's bill that my colleague from Hamilton Mountain put forward. That bill suggests tax credits for workers, particularly those in the building trades, who are prepared to move to other regions of the country to take up work and that they be provided assistance to do that.

We know there are trained workers in a number of industries who are willing to make that move but cannot do it because they do not have that kind of assistance. I wonder if the member might talk a bit about labour mobility in that vein.

We also know there is a recommendation in the report that the temporary foreign workers program be augmented. This has always been of concern to me, especially when Canadians are available to do work but do not have the means to travel to take up jobs in other regions of the country, and instead, workers are being brought in from offshore.

In Canada in the past often the plan has been to bring in temporary foreign workers but to put them in the stream to become citizens, to land them as permanent residents, make sure they enjoy all the labour rights and become full citizens. It is not a guest worker program. I wonder if the member might comment on the temporary worker program in that regard as well.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question, which is very relevant.

We have a duty as parliamentarians to make sure our constituents have the support they need to lead fulfilling lives. For example, if workers want to stay in their community, it is our job to find ways to help them do just that, but if they want to move, we must also be able to help them with various tax programs or even changes to the employment insurance system. A number of unions in the construction industry have suggested such changes. Every year, they come here to Ottawa to talk to us about that. We would therefore be addressing a problem.

The government is hiding behind the fact that some regions or sectors are experiencing labour shortages. This is true, admittedly. But a worker in Abitibi who loses his forestry job cannot necessarily become a miner overnight. These people need income support so that they can get the retraining they need.

As well, regions sometimes have very temporary labour needs. People will be reluctant to leave their area to go to Alberta, for example, for fear they will be sent back again six weeks later. We have to find a way to minimize the costs to individuals and distribute labour in the way that makes the most sense economically. The measures described by the member are consistent with this approach.

I will close by saying that the Bloc Québécois is looking at introducing a sort of improved employment insurance for workers who agree to train for a period of two years, for example. As I mentioned, employment insurance provides coverage for a maximum of 42 weeks, if memory serves. Yet training to move from one specialty to another rarely takes less than two years. Consequently, it seems to me that in light of the new realities in the manufacturing sector, we need to review—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

We now move to questions and comments. The hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to commend my colleague for his excellent speech on the motion introduced this morning. One aspect of his speech that struck me was the issue of distributing the proposed aid package to the manufacturing and forestry industries, namely through the trust the government is currently putting in place. My colleague was saying that in the mad cow crisis, the previous governments implemented a program that targeted, in a way, areas where the crisis affected producers the most. The current trust does not have that same measure. I would like my colleague to elaborate on that.

I am thinking here of another example concerning the Government of Canada. In times of crisis, the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec can take measures only when losses as a result of the crisis exceed $10 billion. If disaster strikes and it is not significant enough, the government does not step in to help. This is somewhat similar. I would like to have my colleague's opinion on that.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member just gave a very good illustration of the inequity this type of distribution can create when it is based on an approach that totally ignores real needs. Quebec is ending up with $216 million, or 21.7% of the total $1 billion announced. As I was saying, Alberta is getting a lot more money than Quebec is. While we represent 32.8% of the forestry industry, we are receiving 21.7% of the money. The same is true for the manufacturing industry. I think the government needs to take another long hard look at this issue.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Chambly—Borduas.

First of all, the motion introduced this morning by the Bloc Québécois picks up on the motion adopted by the Standing Committee on Finance and carries on the attempt to deal with the difficulties that the forestry and manufacturing industries are currently experiencing, especially in Quebec.

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology adopted a series of extremely pertinent, logical measures to assist in particular the manufacturing and forestry industries, especially in Quebec. The Standing Committee on Finance re-examined this very detailed plan and picked out some extremely attractive and important tax measures the government should definitely consider. This motion was adopted unanimously by the Standing Committee on Finance. It is imperative, therefore, if we want to continue down the same logical path, for all parliamentarians to pass it unanimously so that we send a very clear message to manufacturers and the people working in these sectors, as well as all working people in Quebec who deal with these major problems every day.

The recommendations of the finance committee are taken up in today’s motion and focus on capital cost allowances to help companies modernize their equipment in order to remain competitive. Some sectors were specifically targeted, such as energy, information, information technology, the environment and rail transportation. These are all interconnected. When we speak about public transit, we are also speaking about the importance of the environment and about ensuring that companies in these sectors remain competitive with companies elsewhere in the world.

The other major aspect has to do with increasing investment in research and development. Many companies in Quebec do a lot of R and D but do not compete on a level playing field. The government must take action to help these companies become more competitive. The free market clearly favours companies that are doing well at the present time, but this does not mean that companies going through a rough patch should be left to their own devices. The government must take action, especially in Quebec, in view of the importance of the manufacturing sector. Many jobs are being lost, and it is essential to give this sector a boost by means of the measures mentioned in the motion, especially credits for R and D and the modernization of equipment.

The manufacturing industry is in sad shape in Canada, but especially in Quebec, because Quebec and Ontario are the two places the crisis is hitting the hardest. The manufacturing sector in Quebec is vital, accounting for 536,000 jobs and $22 billion in salaries. That is nearly three times more than in Alberta. Yet the measure the government has proposed will give as much money to Alberta as to Quebec. This is completely absurd.

Manufactured goods account for 59% of Quebec's GDP, which shows just how important manufacturing is to Quebec. In many cases, these services support industry, research and development. The collapse of the manufacturing sector is hurting Quebec's whole economy, and it desperately needs a helping hand.

The forest industry in Quebec cannot be abandoned. Here again, the government must set aside its economic laissez-faire philosophy, which holds that only the strongest companies will or should survive. Entire communities in Quebec depend on the manufacturing industry and especially on the forestry industry.

Quebec is inhabited because of the forestry industry. Throughout Quebec, forest resources have been developed in an organized way for hundreds of years. It is important to support the communities whose economies and labour markets are centred around these industries. Quebec is going through a tough time right now, but that will not always be the case. Companies need help to modernize their equipment and compete better against foreign companies so that they can turn a profit.

Moreover, the plant closures and job losses have a social dimension. The people who are affected are truly in dire straits. We can all imagine what families throughout Quebec are going through. We must look ahead. We must help companies modernize, diversify and make it through this crisis.

In Quebec, 230 towns and cities depend heavily on the forestry industry, and 160 depend on it exclusively. We cannot just sit back and see what happens and say how nice for those that managed to survive. We need a strong assistance program that can offer much more than the $1 billion proposed, only $216 million of which will go to Quebec. The next budget must include additional amounts. Two hundred and sixteen million dollars over three years for the whole of Quebec's manufacturing and forestry sectors does not make sense. For example, the Trois-Rivières region needs an investment of about $300 million just to reopen one plant.

It is as the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain that I am making a speech on the impact of the manufacturing sector crisis. My riding includes the city of Shawinigan. I raised this matter in the House when the Belgo plant shutdown was announced last fall. I would like to explain how tragic that can be for a city like that. The city's best industrial years were behind it, and it was completely abandoned by successive governments. The town has become utterly depressed. One pulp and paper mill is about to close, and another of the same company's mills is in danger of closing. AbitibiBowater announced that the other mill in that city is on life support.

It is hard to imagine how a city of 50,000 can make it through the closure of two mills within months of each other. The government simply must intervene with effective measures to ensure the survival of the company, especially since it has the means to do so.

The government has taken measures that, once again, send very bad signals to the economy of the Shawinigan region. Last fall, the government closed a Canada Revenue Agency office there and moved it to centralize services in Ottawa. As a result, 20 jobs were cut in Shawinigan alone.

The government must have a much broader vision for supporting communities. All of its actions should aim to save jobs and focus on people's ability to take charge of their own lives and develop their skills.

In short, the Conservatives' $1 billion trust will obviously send a message.

The main message is that the government is able to take money from the $11.6 billion surplus—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

[Louise Thibault, Independent, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Saint-Maurice—Champlain covered a lot of bases. But there is one thing that the Conservative government completely overlooked in its trust fund strategy. This has to do with our private lumber producers, private woodlot owners. I think it is very serious that they were completely ignored in the trust fund. I am referring to Quebec in particular. These 35,000 producers represent 29,000 jobs and, consequently, millions of dollars in direct and indirect benefits.

I would like my colleague to comment on what the Fédération des producteurs de bois du Québec and the regional unions are calling for with respect to timely financial aid measures, as of today, so that private woodlot owners can continue their operations.

It has already been said. The federal government took care of the beef and grain industries when they were in crisis. Why do we not take care of this group and give them transportation assistance? They need immediate, practical measures so that they can continue to support their families, and so that we can keep one of our most important natural resources, the forest, in good shape.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques for her question. As a matter of fact, the point she raises is extremely important.

There are about 35,000 private producers in Quebec forests. The government has completely excluded them from the assistance plan. These people have to work without the resources of the big forestry companies. Very often, they have to go into debt and mortgage their home in order to continue the work of developing sectors as part of proper and effective forestry plan in Quebec. These producers have often developed the forests that they own. Frequently, it is a family tradition. The forests are extremely well managed. These producers invest their own money in very expensive equipment.

Very often, these people work for many months without receiving any money at all because the companies that use the wood for pulp and paper or for sawmills do not always take up the wood, all the more so now that restrictions are in effect. These producers still must continue to invest to remain efficient and to properly manage the forests, which certainly make up one of the jewels of Quebec’s resources.