I'm going to let you select the terms you want to use, but what troubles me is that, as a result of fear regarding the softwood lumber agreement, we're about to ask ourselves whether we want an industry in Canada, on the pretext that no one can grant loans at a commercial rate, a legal rate, a market rate, and even the provinces will be forced to consider whether we want to have a forest industry in Canada that creates 825,000 jobs. It will go that far. I repeat: we aren't in a position to blackmail the Canadian government like the major automotive companies have managed to do, to confuse the two governments and enter into agreements between the U.S. and Canadian governments.
In the softwood lumber case, you'd say that the Americans are there, thinking: if they can suffocate, if they can die... Even if it's not entirely legal, they're nevertheless going to resort to arbitration, and we'll play the game and do nothing. That's where I ask you the ultimate question: do you want an agreement at any cost, to the detriment of an industry's survival? The matter can go that far. And we'll be forced to ask ourselves that question one day if the governments do nothing. I could tell you that AbitibiBowater is in Quebec what GM might be in the United States, all other things being equal. No one gets worked up over that in Quebec. We'll have to start getting a bit excited and to consider the facts. That company has 9,000 retirees who work in 25 municipalities in Quebec alone, not including British Columbia and Ontario. It creates 10,000 to 12,000 direct jobs, which means approximately 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in Quebec. What would become of all that industry's subcontractors if it fails? We'll say we complied with the U.S. agreement? Come on, we have to react! We have to take minimum precautions, yes, but the government has no right to let it go, in my opinion. Parliament can't either, and I think you have a role to play, everyone. With respect to you, if the government comes up with a specific envelope and a fast track procedure—provided it avoids duplication with the provinces, because otherwise we'll have the familiar conflicts over traditional areas of jurisdiction—I think we'll all applaud and congratulate you.