Mr. Speaker, as I have said on a number of occasions, the department is following very closely the issues that are facing workers in the softwood lumber industry, particularly as a result of the dispute with the United States.
The hon. member would be interested to know that a recent Statistic Canada labour force survey indicates that in the Province of British Columbia lumber job levels increased by 14% between January 2002 and January 2003. The number of EI claims in B.C. continue to be lower than in the previous year.
That being said, we are there with programs through employment insurance and working to ensure that the workforce is supported through this difficult time.