Finance committee  The pine beetle epidemic is proceeding apace. They've been slowed down a little bit by weather. We don't know where they're going to go or how far, because the specialists in this area have been wrong almost every time. The numbers have exploded to such an extent that what is a v

Finance committee  In our case, it amounts to 600,000 jobs. That's 600,000 jobs in the service sector. I can't give you an exact number, but that's the order of magnitude. We have 300,000 direct. The 600,000 indirect is almost all service sector. Every time a forestry guy loses his job, two servic

Finance committee  If that included the measures we put forward, we would agree.

Finance committee  Yes, and if these additional measures are taken immediately, they would be welcome. If it comes in the next fiscal update, a little later, we'll still give them a hug and a kiss. I don't want to get you guys too excited now.

Finance committee  We don't have an official position on it. I can tell you that the provinces, for the most part, have been not as quick as the federal government in reforming their tax regimes, and we've been encouraging them strongly. We've also been encouraging what the Department of Finance is

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Thank you. Let me congratulate the subcommittee on having chosen to do this. We certainly appreciate the interest. I represent the Forest Products Association of Canada, with members from coast to coast, in 70% of the forestry operations in Canada, including pulp and paper and

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Generally speaking, if you do an analysis of future demand and capacity to compete once global markets return, Canada is actually quite well situated. Our western lumber mills are right now among the most competitive in the world. The number of mills in eastern Canada that are to

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  That wasn't the gist of the question. What percentage of what the auto workers are getting would be fair? What percentage of the subsidy granted to the automotive industry would be appropriate?

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Our situation is so different from the automobile industry, and frankly, we feel we're in a much better position because we have been doing our competitiveness homework. We haven't been asking the government to freeze the status quo. It would be easy to interpret what's happening

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  You're right that I'm not going to answer, simply because I'd rather it be referred to trade lawyers. It's easy to say this particular instrument is safe, until you actually look at the detail of it. I think Mr. Chevrette was quite clear that it's not loan guarantees as such, but

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  I am certain it can be done in a way that doesn't lead to countervailing action. Whether it's a loan guarantee or other methods of making credit available, I am certain of that. It's been done in the past and it will be done in the future. I haven't sensed any reluctance on the

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We've always suggested that refundable SR and EDs should be for all manufacturing. That was the recommendation of this committee's report on manufacturing; it was a recommendation of Natural Resources. It's a beautiful instrument, because unless a company puts its own cash into

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  If it's foreign-owned it's subject to Canadian tax policy. So if they want to invest in Canada, I think we should say, “Welcome. Come invest in Canadian mills.”

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Yes. Eighty percent of our mills are held captive by a single railway company. Since they're monopolies, they do what they're legally required to do and maximize profit for their shareholders. As a result, because they have monopoly powers, we get bad service and are overcharged.

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  It's absolutely necessary. When businesses can pay less for research, government support is very important. That helps us a great deal because, in future, we'll have to find new products and new ways of manufacturing those products. Our future depends on our ability to find them.