Thank you.
Certainly, I'd like to thank you and your team. It's probably been a very challenging year or two now, and we're into the final steps of dealing with this agreement.
First, I have a notice of motion, which I'll read and will hand out copies. Apparently the Speaker turned down the request for the emergency debate on Teck Frontier, so the motion is:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Standing Committee on Natural Resources immediately undertake a study on the cancellation of the Teck Frontier Mine; that witnesses for the study include the Minister of Natural Resources and officials from Natural Resources Canada; that the study be comprised of no less than 5 meetings; and that these meetings be televised.
Obviously, we will have this conversation at a later date because it is just a notice of motion.
Now I'll head into my questions.
As you're aware, we're the natural resources committee, and we really only had a small section of the legislation referred to us.
I come from British Columbia, and for me, one of the biggest trade irritants for years and years has been softwood lumber. Was there anything that precluded the government from making that a priority in the same sense that it suggested that gender and some other priorities...? As the government went into negotiations, was it feasible for it to actually make that a priority as one of its objectives?