Madam Speaker, it is an honour to take part in today's debate on the forestry industry.
It reminds me of the fact that my father started off as a timber scaler. He received his training in Sainte-Croix, near Quebec City. He was said to be very good at flipping the famous 2x4s over to assess their quality. He even worked at the Union catholique des cultivateurs for a wood producers union. As we can see, the forestry industry is linked not only to my family history but to Quebec's history, and that it is deeply rooted in our province. The forestry industry is a renewable resource. We are surrounded with objects made of wood in this chamber. We want efforts to be made to reintroduce wood in major construction works, so as to pass on this desire to future generations.
As the member of Parliament for Lévis—Bellechasse, I have in my riding, and particularly in the county of Les Etchemins, many forestry companies. I think of Rotobec, an export and manufacturing company — products are imported from around the world. I also think of the Audet sawmill, Bois Carvin, and a company from Lévis which was taken under the umbrella of the Ag-Bio Centre, a business incubator that received subsidies from the Economic Development Agency, and developed a biopesticide.
The forestry industry is a pillar of our economy. I have statistics here from the Quebec Forestry Industry Council. In Quebec alone, the economic activity is estimated at $12.9 billion, with nearly $4 billion going to wages and $1 billion going back to our governments. The forestry industry is profitable for governments, and it is in our interest to ensure that it does well. Across Canada, we are talking about close to 300,000 direct jobs and 450,000 indirect ones. This goes to show how important the forestry industry, an industry facing admittedly major challenges, is to our country.
In Quebec, because we export so much to the United States, a one-cent difference in the exchange rate can result in $100 million in losses to the industry in energy costs. This industry has been mismanaged over the past few years. Among other factors, there is the cost of the raw materials, whether they come from public or private forests. Several factors have combined to make our forestry industry vulnerable to plant closures—one in six in Quebec—and job losses.
Even if all Quebec companies together did $13 billion worth of business, they still would not be among the 10 largest companies. There has been some consolidation. A major global phenomenon is happening, and we want to stand by our forestry industry and help it.
I would like to cite one last statistic. Seventy-five per cent of the softwood fibre harvested is used to make lumber or newsprint. Demand for these products is declining, and they are among the least value-added forestry products. Today, I agree with those of my colleagues in the House who have said that it is important to invest in innovation and research, to create new sectors so that our forestry industry can find a niche where it can perform well. I wanted to paint a picture of this extremely important industry.
I would now like to turn to the measures we have included in our economic action plan to support the forestry industry through this crisis. As my hon. colleague, the Minister of State for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec just explained, we will continue working with the forestry industry to help it get through this crisis.
This is a market problem, due in part to the problems our American ally is going through, but it is also a credit problem. We want to work closely with the industry, and that is what we are doing, to help it maintain liquidity so that it can keep making high-quality forest products and stay competitive on the world market.
Access to credit is not only key for the forestry industry, but also for all manufacturing sectors, be it mining or other Canadian companies. That is why the economic action plan is providing $200 billion for companies, all industrial sectors and families: to help them and ensure that our companies can access cash.
The $200 billion in the economic action plan has been approved. It was approved here last week with the support of my colleagues, those from other provinces and the support of my colleague from Saint Boniface as well as the member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean. These measures are in place, and we hope to get them off the ground to support our industry, in particular our forestry industry.
We also want to create demand. We know that there is a problem and that there is not much demand. We want to increase demand by improving Canada's building inventory and by stimulating investments in home renovations. That is why we have set aside $7.8 billion. Perhaps there is someone at home listening today who wants to renovate, invest $10,000, replace windows or finish a basement. All of these projects require wood. The government can give him up to $1,350 to encourage him to modernize and protect his assets. That will increase the demand for wood. If only one person does it, that is not much, but if there is $7.8 billion for the entire country, it means that many households can do something to stimulate our forestry industry.
As my colleague, the minister and member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, said a moment ago, we are working closely with aboriginal communities in Quebec and everywhere in Canada. There will be $400 million injected to improve housing. We know this is a major need. That too will be grist for our mill, our paper mills, as is obviously the case, and we will stimulate demand on that side.
In the economic action plan, we are investing nearly $12 billion in our infrastructures, and we hope that this will generate economic activity that will help our forestry sector. Certainly the measures proposed in the economic action plan lay a solid foundation to help our forestry product and mining sectors, and the communities that depend on them. In spite of all the measures we put in place in Canada, with the decline in demand in the United States, there may be setbacks, and that is why, in a time of economic upheaval, we have proposed measures for communities and workers, for heads of household who are directly affected by the crisis. We have instituted an older worker adjustment and community adjustment program. We have also implemented measures to promote innovation, develop markets, provide access to credit, as I mentioned, and provide tax relief.
To come back to the measure for communities, that is $1 billion. We hear the opposition saying there is only $170 million for forestry. If that money is invested well, it can help our forestry sector, but that is just one of the measures we have implemented. Those other measures include the $1 billion for communities. That money will go primarily to the forestry sector and other sectors affected by the economic upheaval. This means that $1 billion will be injected into communities that are vulnerable because of the situation we are experiencing. Those measures will help our workers make the transition, preserve their ability to keep working and, as they say, put bread on the table.
I referred to $170 million. That is the amount to be spent on innovation. We are talking about it a lot today because that is how we hope to help our forestry sector stimulate its industry.
I would also mention that nearly $440 million will be available to enable our forestry industries to invest. In the late 1970s, the forestry industry invested and that is what allowed it to make a significant recovery. In the 1980s, the paper mills also invested in treating their waste water, and that is entirely to their credit. They are good corporate citizens that got their emissions under control. So we are stimulating them and creating a favourable situation for them to be able to invest.
I also want to say that we will be supporting workers with an $8.3 billion program to help them stay in the work force, whether in the company or once they have left the company.
We will continue to support the forestry sector. On this side of the House, we will continue to look for solutions, working with our partners and with industry, so that our industry comes out of this crisis in a better position in global terms.