That's correct, but we are concerned that if in fact we make a statement that doesn't result in the 95% threshold, then the government will not pursue those changes we think are necessary to make this agreement viable. I think it's critically important for the Alberta industry to ensure that we get the market share that is necessary.
We're certainly disadvantaged by the change in the base period, in the initial discussion, under the basic terms. In fact, the day before the basic terms were announced by the Prime Minister, we understood that the base period was going to be 2001 to 2005. However, B.C. stood up and said that they could not agree to that and got it changed. That had a profound effect on Alberta. We were not consulted during those final hours in spite of the fact that we had made valiant attempts to make our concerns known to the government. That is probably our top issue.
Our next issue is termination. Unlike the minister, who commented that this deal will probably be a seven-year deal, we don't believe that's the case at all. Seeing as there is a termination provision, it will be used. We have had 25 years of ugly negotiations with the U.S. We've just now armed them with half a billion dollars to get their war chest ready for the next round, which we believe will be in three years, and to us, that is absolutely unacceptable. So clearly, that's the next issue.
If I can thus characterize it, the legal precedent is absolutely critical. We cannot sign over our deposits knowing that all we've fought so hard for in the last four years will be down the drain and that we will be faced with a Lumber V. Interestingly enough, we have come to the conclusion that we will get a Lumber V. It's guaranteed. It's just a matter of when, and we believe it's going to come at the same time, whether we sign off on the agreement or have continued litigation. It will be three years from now, because they can't launch a new trade case against us until the litigation is over. So as long as they drag out the litigation, there will be no Lumber V. But as soon as it's over and we get the win that we anticipate, they will launch the next case--that's true--but we also believe that if we sign off on the agreement and it enters into force in October, let's say, we will get a Lumber V three years after that. Only time will tell, but that's what we believe.