Evidence of meeting #129 for International Trade in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was industry.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Mr. Samray, the federal government, you and other industry bodies have been involved with the dispute for the last six or seven years. What do you propose, and what would you like to see in the new deal?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Québec Forest Industry Council
I'm not going to present, in a public hearing at this committee, what we're looking for precisely, because I'm not negotiating in public.
One thing, for sure, is getting the entire support of the Canadian government and being in Washington on a daily basis to get to an agreement that is a win-win situation. Americans need our product. We are there. We have less production than we used to, due to fires and due to biodiversity, which we take seriously in Canada. Therefore, the wood you all expected has gone up in smoke. Now they will have less volume. I guess the American companies should be satisfied with this.
We need to find a long-term solution for softwood lumber. I don't want it to be the 60-year record of the chicken tax between Europe and North America. If there's a will, there's a way. There is a will on our side to negotiate. We want to be there with the government to find a long-term deal with the United States.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you very much.
Thank you to all of the members, and to our witnesses.
On Monday, we will have one more hour on softwood lumber. The second hour will be for the CBAM emissions study we will start.
Thank you very much.
The meeting is adjourned.