Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to also urge Mr. Maloney to withdraw his amendment. Marleau and Montpetit says very clearly that committees have the right and the responsibility to report to the House. This issue is one of pressing importance. We're talking about 200 lost jobs each and every day. If this issue isn't one that the committee would choose to report to the House, I can't imagine one that would be. Every single day, there are 200 lost jobs in the forestry manufacturing industries. Essentially, we're talking about 1,000 jobs every five days. Since we started talking about this last Wednesday, the breadwinner in 1,000 more Canadian families has lost a job. So there is a crisis. There's no doubt.
For Parliament to have potentially one three-hour debate on trade issues linked to the loss of 200 manufacturing and forestry jobs a day is not excessive at all. In fact, it's normal.
I would like to come back, Mr. Chair, to this point that the Conservatives have been making, that they do not believe committees should be reporting to the House, except when they tend to agree with the issue that's being discussed. This is something that this trade committee has done on a regular basis. It's important. It has an impact on Canadians' lives and Canadian jobs. To potentially have a three-hour debate provoked from a motion that seems to have agreement from all four corners of the committee chamber here, all four parties involved, I think would be a real mistake.
I'd like to urge the mover of the amendment to withdraw the amendment as well, because it simply takes away that opportunity to have in Parliament a debate that desperately needs to be held, and that the official opposition and the Bloc and the NDP have been unable to obtain from the government by any other means.