Mr. Speaker, the composition of the extraordinary challenge committee in the Canada-U.S. lumber dispute is the subject of lively debate between Ottawa and Washington. The Americans are casting doubt on the representativeness of Canadian experts sitting on this committee, and some are even calling for Canadian panelists to be investigated by the FBI from now on to determine how unbiased they are.
Will the Minister for International Trade undertake to indicate forcefully to the United States that its position and claims in this matter are quite simply unacceptable and that its attitude threatens the very existence of the panel system for settling trade disputes between our two countries?