Government Operations committee  Yes, we started out originally about 30 years ago and I would say 100% of our business was in Canada at least and a big chunk was in the province of Manitoba. As we moved forward, that changed. We didn't have the same type of momentum and drive. We didn't have the same type of op

Government Operations committee  The decline that we've had in the reputation, in my opinion, is because we're not showing leadership. We're not at the front of developing new products, new systems, new methodologies. That is really an issue of where you put your priorities. The opportunity is still there. There

Government Operations committee  I'll go back to my NRC example. NRC was a leader in research, and the federal government funded a lot of that research. That's why we were where we were. Over budget cuts and all the rest of things, they became...where they needed to bring money in. There's nothing wrong with tha

Government Operations committee  Perhaps I may add to that too. I agree you do need to add something in there. In the case of my company, we actually targeted older historic buildings because we just like them. We put a value to that, and we paid extra money, if you want to think of it that way, simply because t

Government Operations committee  I fully believe that we do. I think we have an opportunity for leadership. When I was thinking about this, I was hesitant about using the word “leadership”, because to me that's a little bit passive. I think we have an opportunity here for the federal government to be very active

Government Operations committee  Absolutely. We can make a tremendous improvement in that area. The point I was trying to make is that, when we think of energy efficiency, we think of saving kilowatts, or gallons of oil, or therms of gas, but there are so many other benefits. Our landfills are being strained in

Government Operations committee  The short answer to your question is yes, I'm very familiar with the program. About 70% of our business is on the American side now, so we work closely with both the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. I think the step forward that the government has t

Government Operations committee  I think the NRC is in position to actually do a tremendous amount of work to assist not only the federal government in improving the efficiency of its buildings, but in getting back to leadership. I've been working with NRC for about 30 years. When I first started working with

Government Operations committee  Absolutely, I would agree with that. I think that's the opportunity the federal government has. If we look back in history, we can see that any time somebody has taken that leadership, we've moved forward, whether it be deleting the T12s, or whether it be a demonstration project.

Government Operations committee  There's actually only one more point I would like to make. One of the places where Canada's lacking and we could move forward with government buildings is building labelling. Actually, it's a regulated practice in Europe that we have to label the building with how much energy it

Government Operations committee  Yes, I can. It's very clear.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Martin, and ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate the opportunity to address you today. I have a real passion for energy efficiency in buildings. The fact that you're looking at this and taking it seriously is a major step forward. I think that's actually where the f