Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga West, who like myself has his roots in Algoma district. I am pleased to be sharing this time with him.
This is a very serious subject and all members of the House share that sentiment. While we might argue over the details and over what should best be done in this very difficult time, we do agree that what the U.S. industry in conjunction with its government is doing is truly unfair to our softwood lumber sector.
When we think of the sector, we think of the mills and their workers. Some think of the investors without whom it would not be possible to build and expand mills. However, let us think more carefully about the families of those workers. Let us think of the bush workers who do not go to the mill with their logs but who are a very important part of the industry and, of course, the truckers, without whom the logs would not get to the mills. The bush workers, truckers and suppliers have families as well.
The loss of a job in a mill because of the unfair U.S. approach to trade with Canada on softwood lumber has an impact well beyond that worker. It is a small business and many more people are affected.
In my large northern Ontario riding of Algoma--Manitoulin, there is a large number of small communities that depend upon the softwood lumber industry. I will not name them all, but communities like Chapleau, White River, Espanola, Thessalon and a number of others would not have a major employer in their communities without the softwood lumber industry.
You are from northern Ontario, Mr. Speaker, and you know very well that our economy has depended for many generations upon the primary resources of forestry and mining. Fortunately in the latter decades tourism has come along to create jobs and augment our economy. However, we always go back to our primary sectors, in the case of my riding to forestry, to maintain our local economy, to make sure our people are not forced to move away to find employment and to make sure there are jobs in the industry for young people to come back to once they graduate from college or university.
The forestry sector is quite a high tech sector. This is probably one of the root causes of our problem with the Americans. The American industry has not kept up. It has not made the investments in its mills and bush operations that would have allowed it to be as competitive and efficient as our mills.
Members of the House may have been to mills where computers are used to maximize every bit of the log to make sure that the optimal number of board feet come out of a tree so that there is very little waste. Without computerization our industry would not be the leader it is.
It also seems to me that we are jeopardized because we happen to have vast resources in forestry. We also happen to have vast resources in energy. I doubt that when it comes to energy our American friends will complain if we can provide them with energy at a very competitive price. They should look at our plentiful energy and our plentiful forests as a resource over which not to fight, but over which we should be allowed to compete fairly.
We each have our domestic advantages. The Americans have a longer growing season. In many cases they have much better terrain on which to harvest their forests. These are their natural advantages. They perhaps have a more extensive road system simply because they have a greater population. Those advantages are not present in Canada, but we have other advantages so it is all balances out.
I believe that as this works its way through the system, and I remain confident that a solution will be found, a solution will be found, one that is for the long term and not a five year patch as we have been forced into too many times over the last few decades.
I have great confidence in our international trade minister who has spoken with a very strong voice. He has brought together the industry and provinces in a way that we have not seen in past attempts to deal with our American friends on softwood lumber. I have great confidence in his ability to get us through this.
I know we are coming to the 11th hour. It will not be too many weeks from now that the final determinations will be made. To remind those who question the commitment of the government, and they should not question it, the Prime Minister has on numerous occasions over the last weeks and months, if not years, raised the softwood lumber issue with the president of the U.S. Year in and year out the issue was raised with the American secretary of trade. However there is no accounting for the ceaseless attempts by the U.S. forest lobby to undermine, criticize and incorrectly characterize Canada's softwood lumber industry.
For the benefit of my constituents and others who may be listening, I reiterate that the minister talked about a two track approach. The legal side would require preparation for a WTO challenge. Hopefully the Americans will respond appropriately should they lose that challenge, but in the meantime Canada and U.S. officials, at the industry, provincial and federal levels are having ongoing discussions with our American neighbours to try to find a solution once and for all. I am confident that will take place.
It is about not negotiating. Canada does not have to negotiate from the position that it already takes. We do trade fairly in lumber. We do not subsidize our industry. Our industry does not dump product into the U.S. market. There is no real proof of injury to the U.S. producers. I do not believe it to be necessary for us to negotiate but I agree it is important to discuss. Maybe it is a matter of the U.S. finding a way to get through it on its side which mollifies its industry.
I accept and understand that some provinces are looking at the way they contract out tracts of forest with so-called stumpage fees. Maybe there is some room for improvement there, although I have heard it said that should our forest resources be tendered or auctioned out at market, that in many cases the prices will be lower than the stumpage fees charged, so our American friends may be in for a surprise. They might want to be careful for what they wish.
Some of my colleagues across the way call for the government to do more. I doubt that we can do more except to remain diligent. It is naive to believe that we can tell the Americans what to do on any given subject. They have to see the resolution in terms of what is best for them, an understandable position if one is discussing an important subject from two different points of view.
I believe at the end of the day the Americans will realize that it is in their best interests to deal fairly under NAFTA and under the emerging rules that govern world trade. It is incumbent upon them to accept the discipline that comes with free trade.
As a nation we are free traders. We are attempting to adjust as we must to the new world trade realities. I call upon our American friends to do the same.
I appreciate this chance to say a few words on a very important subject. I know that all colleagues in the House agree that we have to find a long term solution.