Thank you, Minister Ng, for coming back to the natural resources committee. It's like old times. It's good to see you here.
As you mentioned, the forestry industry is so important. It's important in my riding, in my province of British Columbia, and of course, across the country. This softwood lumber dispute has been going on, I wouldn't say all my life, but for a long, long time. In 2017, I went down to Washington, D.C., with Tracey Ramsey, who was the NDP's critic for international trade at the time. We met with a lot of senators and congressional representatives about this. What struck me, first of all, was that some of the strongest, most strident voices of protectionism down there came from Democrats, so I'm wondering what difference, if any, this new administration can make.
I also heard from representatives who were concerned about the softwood lumber dispute because it was hurting their industries, as you mentioned. Right now we have lumber prices north of a thousand dollars per thousand board feet. That's hurting not just Canadians—I have a friend who's building a house and the price just went up dramatically—but it's also hurting American businesses, retail businesses, wholesalers and consumers. John Fowke, who's the chair of the U.S. National Association of Home Builders, said that these prices are just unsustainable. He's really pressing the administration down there to get this solved.
This would be my first question. What pressure are you exerting on the administration, using those people who are with us in the United States, to solve this?