Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  This might be a good solution. They say that training a young person costs at least $50,000 during the first year. That's how much money we're going to lose. We know that we won't get the revenues and it's going to cost a lot. Maybe the creation of a partnership would reduce the wage costs a little.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Yes.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We really represent small businesses. In Quebec, that's how things are done. These are small sub-contractors, who harvest using one, two or three machines, compared to the big companies. There are about 1,300 in Quebec and just about all of us operate this way. We are harvesting specialists.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  In general, since our harvests are multifunctional, residues and branches are left on the cutover. There's no longer much harvesting with branches along the side of the road. Before, we used to cut swaths, but maybe there's a way to adapt this way of doing things. In Europe, they have worked a lot on harvesting residues, even harvesting stumps.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Since we're generally fairly far away, the simplest thing we've seen is to take at least the material. Maybe the factories would have to move closer to transportation lines and then the residue in its most compressed form would be transported there. There are good, low-cost means of transportation.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Loan votes might be useful. As we said in our brief, there are fewer revenue-earning weeks in our season, but we still have to maintain a certain turnover. We were accustomed to changing our machinery regularly to keep up with the latest. If we lose seven, eight or ten weeks of revenue a year, our indebtedness remains the same.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Not at all. We went to meet with some of them in the spring, and all we had to do was mention AbitibiBowater for them to refuse us a loan automatically.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  It's automatic. Even if the companies and the figures are good, you have to find roundabout ways to find funding. The banks are somewhat more open towards those who work for companies that are having less difficulty. But whatever the situation, it's not easy.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  These would definitely be good measures, if we can transform a part... Harvesting specialists like us could indeed go and harvest biomass. That would actually work quite well. These are aspects of harvesting that we have some good ideas about too. Tax credits would also be a good thing.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We are harvesting specialists, but we also work in collaboration with the large companies. If we don't get any help, we are going to lose this expertise. We are very specialized and, as the companies close down, we are gradually dying. It's inevitable. In the short term, there won't be anyone to take over.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Good morning. I represent the Association des propriétaires de machinerie forestière du Québec, the APMFQ. We are the owners of specialized harvesting machinery and equipment, and we come from all parts of Quebec. My associate, Jacques, is going to present a brief we have prepared to outline our present situation.