Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our address will be in two parts; Mr. Simon will handle the second part. The Quebec forest industry has a turnover of $13 billion a year and provides direct, indirect and induced employment for nearly 200,000 persons. More than 350 plants are part of th

Natural Resources committee  Our plants are too small. In the sawmilling field, the average Quebec plant is one-third the size of that in British Columbia. Consequently, our fixed operating costs are much higher, which makes us less internationally competitive. Lastly, in the past seven years, Quebec forest

Natural Resources committee  The answer is quite simple: the associations have not been consulted at all. Let me speak on behalf of the Quebec Forest Industry Council; we have not been consulted at all. Had we been consulted, I would have said exactly the same as Mr. Lazar: the best way to help a worker is

Natural Resources committee  The Quebec Forest Industry Council represents the vast majority of players in the primary processing industry. The exact figure escapes me, but we must have about 150 or 160 members. For example, AbitibiBowater represents one member. So we have major members, as well as smaller o

Natural Resources committee  Yes, absolutely, we are the main player in the primary processing forest industry. That's correct.

Natural Resources committee  Obviously we weren't consulted as such. As Mr. Lazar said, when you want to help a community, you don't necessarily do that by helping the workers who have lost their jobs, but rather by ensuring that workers don't lose their jobs. That said, the QFIC is not opposed to the assis

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Simon will answer the question.

Natural Resources committee  I'm very familiar with the problems of RCM Antoine-Labelle because I come from Mont-Laurier. The forest industry has always gone through economic cycles. This isn't the first; we've been living through them for 150 years. However, we've never experienced one that was both so long

Natural Resources committee  The rule of thumb is that every tonne of biomass fuel used results in the elimination of one tonne of greenhouse gas. In the current context of the fight against climate change, the conversion to combustion of forest mass is entirely appropriate.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, obviously.

Natural Resources committee  An investment climate, period, is the name of the game here. That's all we can say.

Natural Resources committee  That would be a good way to make sure that stronger companies survive. Weaker companies may not be in a position to struggle until the end--too bad, but those weaker companies will have to disappear.

Natural Resources committee  Actually, I wanted to comment on the first part of your intervention, when you were talking about the situation of the industry in 1959. What you're describing actually is a consolidation process. In British Columbia you were stuck with the so-called appurtenancy legislation th

Finance committee  They must be refundable tax credits, otherwise there is no point.

Finance committee  Definitely, we have been calling for that for a long time, and we were very pleased to get it.