The Economy  Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the hunger and homelessness. The Salvation Army report showed that 75% of Canadians face challenges managing limited financial resources, poverty and food insecurity worse in every corner of the country.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023  Mr. Speaker, the thing about rural Canada is that we have to drive. We have to drive our families to events, whether it is for school events or whether it is for a hockey game, and some of our driving is 300 kilometres, sometimes further. Our seniors have to drive to go to medical appointments, which could be in hospitals that are 200 to 300 kilometres away.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023  Mr. Speaker, the member and I have travelled together, and I have a lot of respect for him. With natural gas, I do believe that the government already had some funding to fix the leaky wells. I believe it was in budget 2017, 2018, 2019, somewhere in there. The thing is that there is a lot of money to be made by selling our LNG to places like the EU, which is just a start.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023  Madam Speaker, I rise to speak to the fall economic statement for the constituents of Kootenay—Columbia and for Canadians. After nine years, the Prime Minister has repeatedly demonstrated a concerning lack of regard for the best interests of Canadians. The pattern is unmistakable and is underscored by a persistent tendency toward overspending that has become all too familiar.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023  Madam Speaker, I have a community that relies on hospitality and tourism: Revelstoke. It just applied for $50 million in accelerator funding for new housing in a very busy area, but it was told it was too far advanced. It has done too much, and the money will go to communities that are not ready yet.

Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, has the member had people coming to his constituency office to say how much better it is than it was nine years ago, or seven, six, five or four years ago? I can honestly say I have not had one person come to my office to say how glad they are and that things are working out.

Softwood Lumber  Madam Chair, I thank the member for his speech. I recognize that you just got into town and that it has been a busy and hectic day for you. It has been eight years, and I know for myself, personally, in the last four years, I have been asking for updates because it is so important for people in Kootenay—Columbia, for all the workers and for the forestry industry, which is one of my biggest industries.

Softwood Lumber  Madam Chair, I just have a quick question on forestry management, which, of course, in British Columbia is a significant question. I have been talking with the provincial party about forestry management, because it affects all of our forestry industry. Would the member agree that perhaps a solution that has not been used, and should be, is all of the small, especially very small, generational sawmills, the four-, five- or six-generation sawmills?

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, absolutely. That should have been dealt with on the day we did CUSMA, and we did not do it. We are back to where we will have to do it now, and hopefully, we will get this done in the next short period. Otherwise, we will lose a lot more jobs in the upcoming years.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, right now, it is demonstrating that eight years has been a long time. It has been over eight years. For the last four years, I have been pushing for the minister to start looking at resolving it, with nothing. It is time now to show leadership. When we were talking earlier about solutions, we need strong leadership so that we can actually start making some headway.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, I live in the Kootenays, and one of the border crossings is Kingsgate. I see raw logs heading south, because that is the border. I have some sawmills that do laminated processes. They are trying to use all the wood, and they cannot compete with the price in the U.S. because the raw logs are going.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, I totally agree. It is very challenging through the Rocky Mountains, through all our mountain passes, for rail. That is so much different from Europe, for example. We do need to be able to open the door to be more effective and efficient in our cross-border trade with the United States as well.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time. There is a critical issue that has been plaguing Canada's economic landscape for decades: The softwood lumber dispute with the United States. This long-standing conflict has added strain on the livelihoods of countless Canadians who depend on the forestry industry.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, in British Columbia, especially in rural British Columbia, we have a lot of small mills with fifth-generation owners. They understand forestry management. They understand the business, and they have managed to stay in business even during these tough times. It has been eight years since the government had the opportunity to deal with the softwood lumber issue, and nothing has happened.

Softwood Lumber  Madam Chair, the forestry industry is significant, especially in Kootenay—Columbia. There are a lot of family-owned saw mills, some owned for five generations. Another problem in British Columbia is access to fibre. I am wondering whether my colleague could give some examples or ways he could see for our mills to get the wood, regardless of the fires.