Mr. Jerry J. Ouellette: My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources. Minister, as you're well aware, the forestry sector has been devastated in the province of Ontario, but certain areas in the forestry sector have been actively pushing for changes to energy spot market sales so that they could further shut down their mills and sell energy, for those which own dams, rather than run their mills.

Shutting down mills will put a lot more of the people out of work than just the people who work in the mills-the cutters in the forest and the haulers, just to name a few. Minister, how can the Green Energy Act, in relation to the spot market sales, support the forestry sector in the ailing environment it is in?

Hon. Donna H. Cansfield: I thank the member for the question. I would suspect that this is an example of a mill where the mill and the dam work in synergy. There are a number of mills that in fact do that. One of the opportunities that the mill has is that it can have its production at night, it can store its pulp, and then it can go for demand-response and work with the IESO, the independent system operator, in order to receive some dollars for that demand-response.

That's very much what many of these different mills and dams have been doing. It has been part of our responsibility to work with them, not only on the spot market, but they also can become totally independent through cogeneration. That's why we gave Abitibi, as an example, $20 million for their boiler in Fort Frances-Rainy River, of which they've drawn down $17 million. It's moving forward on a cogeneration project-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Jerry J. Ouellette: Minister, selling on the spot market could effectively mean that, "In 15 minutes, you're going to be out of work for four hours." How can that be effective in working in the forestry sector so that these individuals have job security?

One of the key areas, when you’re talking about job security, is the mill at Iroquois Falls. I know a great number of individuals are concerned in that area, not only at the mill, but also in the surrounding communities, that the sale of that mill could be directly as a result of the inability to sell on the spot market and they're trying to circumvent the system. What this could mean is that the mill could be sold and then the focus would be on selling energy as opposed to providing energy for the mill and the local community.

Will the government commit to ensuring, by buying that mill at Iroquois Falls, that the energy produced at that mill will stay there to support the local communities?

Hon. Donna H. Cansfield: I have absolutely nothing in front of me from Abitibi-Bowater with respect to Iroquois Falls. At such time as I do, we'll look at the options that are available to us.

You and I both know that Abitibi-Bowater is under extraordinary pressure worldwide. It has a significant deficit, $6 billion, a billion that must be paid this year, and they're looking to all of their options.

In the mill in question, they run 24/7 and they work at night. They store their pulp so they can go on the spot market as demand requires it. At first, they thought it was going to be a couple of times a year, and it's maybe up to four or five times a year. That's a plus for any mill, not a minus. They're able to do both: produce, and at the same time help us in terms of the spot market.

What's more important around the green energy is the opportunity to become self-sufficient in another way, through bio-energy-for example, pelletization-or using the biomass in a different way-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you.