Natural Resources committee  Go ahead, Mr. Elsey.

Natural Resources committee  One thing I'd like to see with the program is better management of how much is handed out, and maybe looking at giving the program more permanence so that you can instill confidence in Canadians. Also, we should use the program as a venue for endorsing new energy efficient Canadian products, for example, maybe aiding and assisting Canadian companies in getting their products from renewable energy sources, or even just making any systems in houses more efficient, like solar domestic hot water, for example.

Natural Resources committee  It would appear so.

Natural Resources committee  Do you mean, to terminate the program?

Natural Resources committee  Not as far as I'm concerned. We were simply given an announcement approximately 20 or so hours before they stopped receiving new entrants.

Natural Resources committee  I'm not entirely sure how the government goes about making decisions. I don't necessarily believe it's the fairest kind of way, but again, I don't really know what decisions would have led them to make such a....

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  Quebec has different bureaucratic requirements for energy evaluations. It is much more controlled. Quebec has much more control over how the program is administered. We can offer our services in Quebec, but we cannot cover the provincial portion, just the federal portion. So, for Quebeckers, the important thing is to choose a company that is registered with the province, not just the federal government.

Natural Resources committee  I think so.

Natural Resources committee  Definitely there was a lot of upset. People were calling me, especially in the days following—those who missed the opportunity to register before the program closed.

Natural Resources committee  For one thing, a lot of homeowners were not aware of the various energy efficient products available to them. As a result of going into their homes and presenting them with the options, opportunities, and incentives on the choices they could make, I found that a lot of homes made various changes to become more efficient, even outside of what they were initially planning on doing.

Natural Resources committee  I hope so. I think this is the kind of initiative that should be permanent, or at least long-term: something that continues to grow with products as they advance in energy efficiency, so that geothermal systems or solar systems can become more affordable to the average homeowner and so that at some point we can have a really sophisticated sort of network whereby we are helping homeowners continuously save energy and perhaps one day can fuel the whole country on renewable energy.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly.

Natural Resources committee  First, on behalf of AmeriSpec, I would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the committee for inviting us to participate in this study. Also, we regret the Canadian government's decision to conclude the ecoENERGY retrofit homes program. It is, in our opinion, a model energy efficiency program, and everyone at AmeriSpec has been tremendously proud to be a major contributor.