Natural Resources committee  I can add a bit to that. We have many examples of collaboration between our researchers and researchers in the U.S. on a number of fronts. We recently held a Canada-U.S. forest health summit, back in February. Among other things, pest management is an area where we have recognize

Natural Resources committee  That's better directed toward my colleague.

Natural Resources committee  It's three for one.

Natural Resources committee  I can add to that. I'll reference again the national forest pest strategy. It's really a collaboration with all provinces and territories and with CFIA, and we take into consideration industry issues. That's a forum for us to share best management practices from one jurisdictio

Natural Resources committee  Are you talking about the spruce budworm in particular?

Natural Resources committee  It varies by insect, but if you're talking about the spruce budworm, four to five years of continuous defoliation would definitely kill trees.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, and my provincial colleagues are probably better placed to answer that. Certainly, changes in terms of harvest scheduling and that type of thing would be an option.

Natural Resources committee  Oh, for sure. Jean-Luc is from Quebec, and he could speak to that. I know that in Alberta they have changed their harvesting regime to try to capture as much of the timber infected by the alpine beetle as they can.

Natural Resources committee  Absolutely, yes.

Natural Resources committee  You'd have to ask Parks Canada. We help monitor pests and pest infestations in parks, but they would develop their own strategies in terms of how they manage the forested lands in those parks.

Natural Resources committee  Sure.

Natural Resources committee  I can't speak for Quebec as to what they would do, but salvaging dead and dying trees is certainly an option to any jurisdiction during an outbreak. To pick up on what my colleagues from the province were saying, they are very interested in this early intervention strategy. They'

Natural Resources committee  Since 2002, we've spent a lot of money on risk mitigation, reducing the fire hazard in the surrounding communities and indigenous communities. Those are the types of things the federal government has gotten involved in. Whether we get involved in that in the future is to be deter

Natural Resources committee  Was it the spruce beetle?

Natural Resources committee  The “slow the spread” strategy in the eastern part of Alberta, which was developed through the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers' forest pest working group, is in a sense a similar approach that is being applied in New Brunswick.