Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. He can be proud of his French, because he has made good progress.
It is important to tell the Americans that we will not be bullied, to tell them “If some of our companies are penalized because you do not accept a return to free trade, we will help them”.
As we are getting closer to the deadline for the final decisions, we are in a strong negotiating position. Our main problem is to make it through the current period. I am well aware that many sawmills are having a very difficult time. People are asking for an interim agreement to be able to continue to survive economically and create jobs, as they usually do. But we must send a clear message to the Americans that we will not give in.
We will have massive support for our people, our businesses and our workers. This, I think, is something that the current government did not promote enough. It was mentioned that there would be programs to help businesses, but we have yet to hear about programs to help workers. Currently, the government is helping them collect employment insurance benefits as quickly as possible, but this is not the kind of help that they want.
What I am looking for is the kind of help that will enable these people to have an income to bridge between jobs, when they are unemployed as a result of a war of strategy between Canada and the United States. They need to be protected.
Could the Americans retaliate, as my colleague has suggested? It is possible. We will not, however, win the battle by bowing to the Americans; what we need to do instead is to show clearly that we feel we are right and that, if they do not agree to a return to free trade, they will have to pay the price some other way. We do not have to bear the brunt of it.