Natural Resources committee  I will try to answer, and Mark may add part of the answer as well. As a forester, globally in Canada we plant something like 500 million, but by law, every hectare of forest harvested needs to be regenerated, either through plantation or through natural regeneration. What I mean by natural regeneration is working with Mother Nature.

Natural Resources committee  As a matter of fact, we have a graph showing the growth of exports from other countries, for example Chile. We could show it to you.

Natural Resources committee  I will answer your fellow citizens' questions at the same time I answer yours. First of all, we devote 500 million dollars per year to research and development. We would very much like it to be 5 billion dollars, but...

Natural Resources committee  We therefore devote 500 million dollars to research and development, which is considerable. There is research and technological transfer at the provincial and federal government levels. As for mills and wood products, Mr. Farrell alluded earlier to Forintec, a former federal institute that was privatized and that has created a real partnership with the industry, the provinces and the federal government.

Natural Resources committee  I am not the trade specialist. My colleague might be better able to answer your question than me. We are still the leader as far as world exports are concerned. Canada is by far the largest exporter of forestry products. We export mainly to the United States, but also to Europe and Asia.

Natural Resources committee  That is a very good question. In fact, each species has its own very different life cycle. We can attempt to change this cycle through genetic improvement. The idea is not to change the genetics of trees, but simply to choose specimens that grow more quickly and then to produce seedlings, young plants to improve growth performance and therefore produce a tree that presents better characteristics, not only physically, but also growth-wise.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Cardin. My name is Jean-Pierre Martel and I am Vice-President for Sustainability with the Forest Products Association of Canada. I have worked within the industry as a forestry engineer for 23 years now. You bring up a very important issue. I believe that generally speaking, in Quebec and in Canada, one of the important things that must be recognized is the fact that the forest is a public good, which is very different from the situation of our neighbours to the south.