International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Julian. It is obvious that the fact that the government did not accept what they had proposed themselves - the loan guarantees we have been asking for four years - makes the alternative almost impossible. In many cases, people are, financially speaking, at the end

International Trade committee  Some members of our industry and some members of the coalition had informal contacts a few weeks ago. The purpose was to see whether, in spite of the fact that the agreement was initialled on July 1, it was still possible to improve it and make it commercially viable. This would

International Trade committee  The commercial protections that private parties thought they had received are not there at all. If that view should prevail, it's the end of NAFTA. NAFTA has been Canada's insulation against absorption by the United States. It places us, at least in one forum, on equal footing,

International Trade committee  I have two more paragraphs, then I'm done.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. There is just a small detail. Mr. Reedy here, of Gorman Brothers, is with the Free Trade Lumber Council, but he's on his own here, speaking for Gorman Brothers.

International Trade committee  That's what I was explaining. It was explained to me by Monsieur Dupuis.

International Trade committee  Go ahead with your presentation. Thank you. I thank the committee for having invited me once again to discuss the proposed Softwood Lumber Agreement with the United States. I believe the final agreement impacts a great deal more than softwood lumber, or even the forest ind

International Trade committee  I will address the question of under what circumstances should the deal not be signed. In order to answer that, you have to consider the alternative. The alternative to not signing the deal is to continue the litigation, continue the fight against the U.S. I have to tell you that

International Trade committee  Thank you. So far, there's nothing to indicate that suggestions of this type to change the basic nature of the agreement without changing its terms, are being taken into account by the federal government.

International Trade committee  The timing of this is a little strange; we were no longer at the beginning of this dispute, but rather close to the end. Even if we had gone to the U.S. courts, we thought that by the end of next year the matter would be settled. When there is a judgment from a U.S. court, the

International Trade committee  Merci. To make it a good deal, I would concur with what Jamie Lim has said. The legal basis for the deal could be changed. We've provided very precise language to the federal government to do that. It doesn't mean doing away with the basic terms of April 27; it means that this

International Trade committee  Merci, monsieur le président. Your first question was on the consequences for chapter 19 if the litigation is not pursued. Of course it is a condition of the basic terms that were agreed to on April 27 that on the entry into force this litigation would have to be terminated--al

International Trade committee  Merci beaucoup, madame. Of course everybody agrees about the importance of investing to become more competitive. There's no problem there. But if we do become the marginal suppliers to North American consumers of softwood lumber, as this deal is structured for us to become, the

International Trade committee  More than four years ago, the Free Trade Lumber Council had proposed the very same thing to the government of the day. We had proposed that loan guarantees be offered because we believed, in fact, that at some time or other, we would find ourselves in the situation which has now

International Trade committee  You were asking why there is a rush. Frankly, we don't really know. The basic terms that were agreed to on April 27 are set. What's left is the final legal drafting. This is a more complex agreement than we had, for instance, in 1996, or certainly 1986. But simply take the 1996 c