Natural Resources committee  All right. One area of great concern for active workers, and even more so for retirees, is the issue of pension funds. People are wondering whether Paper Excellence will continue to recognize them, because they're loss-making funds and there's no more money coming in. We have to take into account the fact that retirees contribute a great deal to the region's economy.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, we feel them. It's embarrassing to say to what extent, because we don't have the real numbers. We have the data they want to give us. We certainly don't have the funds. They're being held in trust, so we can't invest in our current processes.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, that is indeed the case. The application of the decree translates, for us, into a loss of supply of raw materials. At the end of the day, this means that it's the workers who will be out of work, because we won't have anything left to process. The forestry industry provides the most jobs in the region.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, it's wood cut from our forests that we turn into boards or lumber. We use lumber scraps to make chips, with which we make paper and pulp. So it's still processing. The primary and secondary transformation is done in Quebec.

Natural Resources committee  Given the raging forest fires, we certainly have concerns about future supply. There are surely parts of these forests that were due to be harvested in two, three, four or five years' time. They will no longer exist once the fires have been brought under control. We could then go and get the wood that is still usable, but it has to be done very quickly, because the material degrades very quickly.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, I can most certainly talk to you about it. At our Kenogami mill, we have a project related to the manufacture of cellulose pulp from fibrous material, this product being of better quality. Projects involving the use of forest biomass are being carried out in Quebec to recover what could be considered as waste material in order to transform it into fuel.

Natural Resources committee  You're right, but we mustn't forget that the federal government threatened to impose a moratorium on all our logging territories if the provincial government didn't take care of it. This has worried the workers. We're wondering if we're going to have the right to go back into the forest to harvest timber.

Natural Resources committee  At heart, all these aspects contribute to fuelling our concerns. We're wondering whether we'll be able to continue to go and cut wood in the forest. It's not that we're unhappy about being bought by another company. What worries us is the fact that we don't know its real intentions regarding what it's going to do about us and with the paper mills.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, I hear it.

Natural Resources committee  I didn't appeal directly to the Competition Bureau. It's not an option I considered. However, there have always been concerns, particularly about woodland caribou and the loss of logging rights. We're worried about running out of raw materials to continue our operations. We are anxious to obtain answers to these questions.

Natural Resources committee  Good day. We also have some concerns about obligations being fulfilled towards the retired employees of Resolute Forest Products. Nearly 4,000 former employees of Resolute Forest Products are currently members of a defined benefit pension plan. Although that fund is no longer taking on new members since it was replaced by a target benefit plan, its sustainability must remain a priority.