Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, committee members, as representatives of the Granulco company, we wish to express our deep concerns regarding the Liberal government's desire to adopt an emergency decree for the protection of the woodland caribou. This initiative, launched last June, has raised grave concerns among our workers and fellow citizens. Such a decree would have irreversible consequences for our community.

Founded in 2009, Granulco is a company integrated into the Boisaco group. Like all companies affiliated to the Boisaco Group, Granulco is organized according to a unique collective and co‑operative model in which workers share ownership of the group. We're talking about nearly 1,400 workers and citizens, mostly from the region.

Granulco was born out of Boisaco's desire to diversify its activities and add value to residual materials from sawmilling to create new products. Its shareholders are the Essipit Innu First Nation Council; two investment companies, Intrafor and Investra, which bring together the citizens of our community; two workers' co‑operatives, COFOR and UNISACO; and a management company, the Boisaco group.

Our company is located in the Sacré-Coeur industrial complex, where the Boisaco, Ripco and Sacopan plants are located. We specialize in the manufacture and marketing of energy-efficient wood pellets, which have been awarded many of the world's most demanding certifications. Our pellets are produced mainly from by-products generated by the various companies in the Boisaco group, which have internationally recognized forestry certification.

Our company generates 30 direct jobs associated with plant operations and various transportation activities. We're talking about 30 full-time, well-paid jobs that support 30 families and, in turn, a hundred or so local residents.

Granulco supplies certified bagged pellets for the residential heating market, mainly in Quebec, as well as equestrian bedding for the U.S. market. We are also very proud to have recently developed the bulk pellet market for export. Our bulk pellets are used to replace coal in power plants in the French West Indies. In this way, Granulco contributes directly to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.

It is important to emphasize that Granulco is contractually committed to delivering specific volumes over several years. In that context, Granulco had to carry out a modernization project worth over $18.5 million, which was completed in December 2023. Thanks to this project, the Boisaco Group's industrial complex in Sacré-Coeur is now able to use all by-products from the Boisaco sawmill. That includes chips, sawdust, shavings and bark. This complex, the only one of its kind in Quebec, makes it possible to add value to the entire resource made available to the group to satisfy its Canadian and international customers.

The end of Boisaco's activities invariably implies the end of Granulco's activities, as it would be impossible, and I do mean impossible, to find other sources of supply nearby to replace the volume lost.

It's important to understand that, should Mr. Guilbeault's decree come to pass, it wouldn't just be Boisaco that would suffer the consequences, but all the companies in the industrial complex supplied with raw material by Boisaco's sawmill, which includes Granulco. The adoption of this decree would wipe out all the efforts made to build this company and the jobs it provides.

The government has a duty, and I do mean a duty, as well as a responsibility to consider all the facts and issues in this matter. It is inconceivable that we would sacrifice our workers, our families, including my own, and our communities. We all depend on the forest to earn a decent living and support our families, and have done so for many generations.

In conclusion, you must understand that no financial compensation can replace maintaining the socio-economic vitality of an already devitalized region like the one we live in, the Haute‑Côte‑Nord.

We would like to thank you for giving us the privilege of presenting you with a portrait of our reality.

Thank you very much.