Great. Thank you very much
Liberal ideology and policy, supported by the NDP, have led to union workers losing their jobs, including in forestry, energy and fisheries. Reports show that about 9,000 jobs were lost in forestry in British Columbia between 2018 and 2023. In 2019 the Tolko mill in Kelowna in my region permanently closed, with 217 permanent good-paying jobs gone. There were two more sawmill closures in B.C. just announced, which will be 500 job losses. My colleague, MP Zimmer, is in the room here today. It's in his region.
U.S. tariffs were cited as the primary reason. Union forestry workers were better served by the Harper government, which completed a softwood lumber agreement within three months of taking office and signed an extension that expired in 2015. Three U.S. administrations and nine years later, this Liberal government has completely failed to secure a softwood lumber agreement with the United States. When there are layoffs, governments talk about retraining.
Have you done analysis on the retraining or reskilling of workers who have lost their job in the forestry sector and if the new positions are comparable, including if previously unionized positions are unionized in their new positions, and if compensation such as wages and benefits were the same?