It seems to me that this is the avenue to focus on among the measures we could put in place to solve the housing crisis. We need to step up construction, and wood has exceptional properties. It will help reduce the carbon footprint of the major construction project that needs to be launched. Wood won't make this major project completely carbon-neutral, but it will still enable us to achieve a carbon footprint well below that which could be achieved with all the other materials we could use to increase Canada's housing stock.
Moreover, this fibre is not only renewable, but also has enormous potential for diversification. Today, forestry specialists no longer speak of the forest as a reservoir of fibre. Instead, they speak of the forest as a large reservoir of molecules that can be used, in particular to promote substitutes for petrochemical products. We can therefore develop xylochemistry, which is also a promising avenue.
We should therefore approach wood in terms of the challenges posed by sustainable development and the replacement of non-renewable materials with renewable ones. In this respect, Canada and Quebec are particularly well endowed, because the boreal forest, even if it has its vulnerabilities, remains a very solid base for redeploying the new economy.