Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to share my time with my colleague, Marcel Proulx, who is directly affected, because of the region involved.
Mr. Paterson, two things are of interest to me. Today, you will be hearing the tapes: the government will tell you that it has done so much for the industry, even though it has announced the same $100 million five times now. In my case, there are two things that interest me: first of all, the fate of the workers, and second, the future of the industry. Without workers, there is no industry.
I know that, in a way, you are between a rock and a hard place. The government has abandoned you. At the same time, I don't understand how you quickly found the money to pay bonuses to your senior management—we are talking about $6 million—while we wait for good news soon regarding the fate of the workers, in terms of their pensions and so on. I would like you to explain why money is available more quickly for bonuses.
At the same time, do you think that more should have been done—I know the answer, but I would like to hear it from you—for example, loan guarantees? Unlike the Conservatives, I believe we should be investing in industry and that this is not violation of the Softwood Lumber Agreement. Even the government's lawyers are saying that it is not a violation of that agreement. So, someone is being taken for a ride here, and I think it's the guys sitting over there and all the women who have lost their jobs. They are the people I am interested in today.