Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, gentlemen.
The chair said earlier, Mr. Casey, that perhaps I wouldn't be as forthright as other members who have been here before, but from our perspective, free trade has not been kind to your industry when it comes to the American market. It seems to me you're facing another battle that has just raised its head in the last couple of weeks, when it comes to the pine beetle, cutting that timber down, and trying to find a market when the U.S. is resisting once again--albeit for me to remember how many times it is...quite frankly, it's been too many to remember.
From the perspective of folks I know who work in that industry, through my association with the union, they've not done well when it comes to workers in this country and softwood lumber. I hear you say that free trade is a good thing for the forest products industry; I'm not so sure that workers on the ground.... You pointed to two mills, one in B.C. and one in Quebec, and I'm not sure which one makes paper to send to Panama. I think you would find the majority of mill workers across this country are not in step with you in believing that the free trade system has done them a great deal of good. I think a lot of them say it's done them a great deal of harm, and a lot of communities would probably say the same thing.
I've made the statement and I'll let you make a quick comment. Where do you think the free trade agreement will have an impact, specifically with the latest irritant that's come up between the softwood lumber companies and what we see? It leads to a bigger question about whether free trade really works or not, in the sense of where you see this going when it comes to this most recent irritant you have with the U.S. market.