Mr. Chairman, as has already been alluded to, much of our attention over the last few weeks quite rightly has been absorbed by the tragic events of September 11. That goes without saying. The aftershocks that have followed those events have impacted our economy in a very serious way. They have contributed to large scale layoffs in the airline industry, just as one example.
These last weeks, there has been more and more bad news. Thousands of job cuts have been announced, particularly in the Montreal area, with the closing of the GM plant, massive layoffs at Air Canada, many job losses in British Columbia, bad news for the aviation industry, and so on.
It is important to recall that before September 11 the Canadian economy was already facing a huge and looming crisis due to the government's inaction in settling the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute.
There has been a great deal of concern expressed in the House, and quite rightly, about the loss of some 5,000 jobs at Air Canada. We should be concerned about that. However, we have seen far less concern from the government on the loss of jobs for some 30,000 people who have been laid off due to the United States' imposition of the 19.3% softwood lumber tariff. The effect of this has been huge.
On October 15 we expect another ruling on the alleged dumping of Canadian softwood. That could impose even more devastating tariffs and devastating results on the industry. Some people have said that in the minds of many Canadians, the lumber industry seems to be treated as an afterthought by the government. They wonder if it is because it is not located in the industrial heartland of central Canada. Many people are asking what the problem is.
It is a great opportunity for the government to show with action and not just words that it really does care about this industry. These kinds of questions are being asked by Canadians. It is a great opportunity for the government to show its concern with action.
Lumber is Canada's largest industrial sector. It is bigger than automobiles. Canadians especially in rural communities rely heavily on the lumber industry. They expect the federal government to give this number one industry a number one priority when it comes to trading relationships.
Frankly one of the reasons we are in this crisis is that the government was asleep at the switch on this file. Members of the Canadian Alliance and before that the Reform Party stood right here in the House literally for years warning that something had to be done before the agreement expired last April 1. Nothing was done. We can check Hansard . Time and time again the warnings went out. We knew that the softwood lumber agreement was temporary. The federal government knew it was a temporary agreement. The government had five years to lay the groundwork for when the agreement would come to an end and it did not happen.
The groundwork needed to be laid so that based on the principles of free and fair trade, this issue could be settled as the agreement ended. The government delayed taking any position on the agreement until it was too late. While we were calling for the government to openly push for free trade in lumber, it was not focused on the issue at all. That is a matter of history and it is a matter of fact.
Rather than spending four or five years building a coalition for free trade with the United States by getting down there and talking to consumer groups and home builders and senators, the government in the time before April 1 did nothing to explain the Canadian case in great detail especially to elected representatives on the U.S. side.
Last spring I was in the United States and met with Vice-President Cheney on this issue. Later the same day I met with U.S. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. He was one of the leaders in petitioning the president of the United States to go along with this countervail, this tariff against Canadian lumber. Vice-President Cheney has a reputation for being up on all the issues and I believe he is. To my amazement, he and Senator Craig seemed to lack an understanding of many of the pertinent details relating to Canadian lumber.
When I explained to them the details of our having won this case three times before, by the types of questions they were asking they seemed to be interested. Obviously Senator Craig, being a senator, listens to his constituents who are appealing to him to impose some kind of tariff.
The lack of preparation by the federal government was evident. It simply was not done. I would have expected the government and our embassy to have been down there not just days and weeks but months and years before the agreement came to an end preparing and putting in place rules based on free and fair trade for the future. It appears they have been sitting on their hands. Some industry groups have come together to try to deal with this issue.
What should we be doing as MPs? Certainly constantly raising the issue here is important, but we could do more. Members of parliament in a non-partisan way should put together a group and go to the United States. They should talk to those key senators, talk to the representatives and make sure they understand the issue. They should talk to the consumer groups down there.
It is never too late for us to pursue the work that should have been done beforehand and push this issue on a parallel side, in a non-partisan way, with members of parliament from all sides of the House. We have to.
Obviously, this issue could go all the way to the World Trade Organization. However, it would be far better if we could convince the United States administration and the U.S. congress to drop this case, not by cutting some kind of a side deal that will lead to ongoing export tax but in fact by dealing with it. It can be done. It is possible. I would suggest that this post-September 11 environment in which we now live may actually give us a new opportunity to pursue this.
In a meeting I had with the U.S. ambassador a few days after the awful events of September 11, we talked about this particular issue. I said that we would in very appropriately and dignified way handle the issue, that we would not let it go. Obviously while our American friends were going through this terrible time, we would not politically pound away at something. I shared with him the issue of jobs and livelihood for 30,000 people, and it will be in the tens of thousands more, being absolutely critical. We talked about that.
The minister is saying that we will plod on, work our way toward WTO and hope to win that one, and believes we will. However, the devastation in the industry and among families will be huge. We recently saw the Bush administration, virtually with the stroke of a pen, remove a tariff on some products from other trading partners to build coalitions.
In that context of debate, Indonesia had duties removed from plywood exports to the tune of something like $200 million a year. I am sincerely glad for the people of Indonesia and their industry. What about Canada? Where are we on this particular file? We need to be there.
The government is not prepared to go to the United States, and I do not mean through the meetings that are being set up now with the industry groups, and take the initiative in a way that is visible and dignified but forceful, even at this particular time. It is not prepared to put together a non-partisan team so that the United States will know that this is not political, that we are concerned about our constituents and that believe we are standing on the principles of free and fair trade.
A non-partisan delegation recently went to New York City to send a message of sharing grief and condolences, not just for the Americans but also for Canadians. We need to and we can put together a non-partisan delegation the same way.
This non-partisan delegation of representatives of the people in Washington will allow us to clearly establish our country's commitment to free trade, particularly in the softwood lumber industry. Quebec and British Columbia are the two provinces most affected by losses in the softwood lumber industry. Thousands of families are waiting for us to act quickly to defend their interests with our American friends and allies.