Finance committee  But it doesn't let you off the hook. You're just part of the Canadian culture that thinks we don't have to--

Finance committee  Our press release said exactly that. It was in that ilk, that it was inadequate.

Finance committee  Giving money to provinces is something I've never quite understood; it's not part of our life. But it's different from doing the job as a federal government. The provinces should do what the provinces do, and the federal government should do its job. Its job is to create business

Finance committee  As we said, there are things the federal government could usefully do to help the forest industry in terms of spending, one of which would be research, another of which would be market development, another of which would be to replenish the ecoENERGY initiative so that there's en

Finance committee  And they'll all use biofuel.

Finance committee  It's an enormous difference. You have to raise the money, you have to buy it, and you have to put it in use. To say that it could be done with one year's or 18 months' notice, it's just not going to happen. I was told the government was thinking that if we made it short, people

Finance committee  They would pass the countervail test, absolutely. They are all simple things that can be done, all in the direction of stuff that's happening but that could go further. Could I just answer on Advantage Canada for two seconds? I know that wasn't your question.

Finance committee  Advantage Canada is fabulous. It's just too slow. Finance has it right in its direction. Your government has it right in its direction. But what we're facing is a marketplace that's moving much faster than Advantage Canada is. We're in a terrible global bloodbath in which everybo

Finance committee  The use of ecoENERGY and the general approach to biorefineries--thinking of a tree as a source of all sorts of chemicals--is something we've been working on quite aggressively. There are two things that can be done right now that would speed that progress. One is the government

Finance committee  Direct assistance is a loaded term. If by direct assistance you mean writing cheques to companies that are in trouble, that's not assistance at all; that's basically dooming us to a lack of competitiveness. It's not the role of government. We'd all like to have magic wands and p

Finance committee  I think everybody will agree with what I've said so far. The question I heard you ask, which I assume everyone is interested in, is can something be done now that would not be destructive, that would be constructive? The answer is yes, things can be done now. They won't be magica

Finance committee  We would love to see a--

Finance committee  I like all you guys. We would like to see a fund available for industry-government partnerships to tell Canada's story of environmental excellence and product quality in overseas markets. There is, right now, the Canada wood export program. It's running out of money. All of it

Finance committee  It's good to start in the forest and work our way into the industrial heartland as we head across the table. First of all, thank you for inviting us. We know how busy you are, and your interest in this is very important to us. As you know, the Canadian forest industry is the la

Natural Resources committee  That's a perfect question, and the answer is yes. Accelerated capital depreciation only helps you if you invest in Canada. If you invest in the U.S., it doesn't help you. The refundability of SR&ED only helps you if the research is done in Canada. That's why there is a specif