Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, good morning. My name is Pierre Boucher and I am the president of the Cement Association of Canada. I am accompanied today by Bob Masterson, who is our policy director. I thank the members of the committee for giving us this opportunity

Finance committee  Exactly. For example, global cement production totals 2.5 billion tonnes—

Finance committee  Yes, but it is an important player because it is a strategic commodity. Having said that, the price issue is fundamental because a large amount of cement is produced. One tonne of cement manufactured in China can compete with one tonne produced in Alberta, for example, or Quebec

Finance committee  No, not at all. We are saying that the cement industry operates globally.

Finance committee  Yes, but 40 million tonnes of aluminum are produced compared to 2.5 billion tonnes of cement. It is a matter of scale. What we are saying is that in order for all industries to be competitive, it must be cost-effective for Canadians to purchase their cement and it has to be prod

Finance committee  Look, we estimate that cement consumption will double within 25 years.

Finance committee  Not at all. What we are saying is that there is a global reduction plan and it is being communicated to all governments, including the federal government.

Finance committee  What we are telling the government is that if it wants to benefit from this strategic commodity—for example, Venezuela just nationalized its cement industry; in India—

Finance committee  I believe that climate change is a global issue.

Finance committee  I will try to explain. In the cement sector, we favour a sectoral approach. Many discussions have taken place, and others are underway, in Europe as well as in Canada, at the provincial level. Because of the Western Climate Initiative, there are many discussions at the federal le

Finance committee  We are concerned about carbon leakage, namely that if cement companies in Canada and the U.S. do not have a level playing field... I will give you an example. British Columbia has a provincial carbon tax, which has led to significant increases in cement imports from Asia, China i

Finance committee  Not at all. However, we clearly stated that cement production has declined significantly since 2006 due to the recession. Whether in the forestry or automotive industry, people in Canada are really hurting. There have been significant job losses. What we are saying is that if t

Finance committee  We feel that the date should be extended until such time as we can indeed put infrastructure in the ground, cement and concrete. Basically, a lot of paperwork has been done identifying the projects. Engineering firms are doing the engineering, what they have to do, but not much h

Finance committee  Some have been in the ground, but not enough. The full impact of the shovels has not yet been seen.

Finance committee  One month maximum. Not very much is being done in roadwork during the winter. Building construction, of course, is slowed down during the winter period but it still continues. So we are certainly expecting that an increase in the tendering will be done throughout the months to co