Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the Minister for International Trade who will follow me in this debate.
It is a privilege to participate in this debate today inasmuch as it may be the most serious economic matter that is facing our country and has faced our country since April 1 of this year. It continues to be a very strong irritant in our relations with our friends in the United States.
I keep repeating this, but the forestry industry is still Canada's largest single industry. It employs more Canadian men and women than any other single industry. It contributes more to the balance of payments with our friends in the United States than any other single industry in our country. It is Canada's foremost and most vital industry. Canada was born on the forestry trade and it still is the backbone of what we are as an economic unit in world trade. It goes without saying how important the forestry industry is to us.
We are faced, as we have been over the last 15 years or so, with that horrible dilemma of having to defend ourselves again because of the unfair subsidies that the Americans claim are being forced upon them, causing unfair competition and anti-dumping in their country. As we know, and as we have proven over the last 15 years, this is so untrue.
In this instance, by the very fact that the Americans have launched this claim against us again, it is no different from any other action. Our industry started to suffer the moment the claim was launched by the United States on April 2. All of a sudden our banking facilities became weaker. People who financed us did not want to continue with their financing.
People who are creative of new innovations, which we are so good at and of which we should be so proud, are no longer spending money on research and development to enhance our forestry industry. This is one of the few instances where we see that the start of an action is where the penalty begins. That is why it is so important that we bring this to a conclusion.
I agree with everybody in the House that it has gone on too long. There are many people in the Chamber who say we should have done some other things. Maybe we should have prepared for the advent of the ending of the softwood lumber agreement a couple of years ago. That may be true.
Other people have said we should have been at the World Trade Organization long before we were and used the new procedures under the World Trade Organization for an accelerated process. That may be true. There could be other things we could have done.
In the area I represent, which is Thunder Bay--Superior North, the most vital industry is the forestry industry and the softwood lumber industry. I can say unequivocally that from the time we have been involved the Prime Minister has said that this is the most important file that he has on his desk. He wants the file resolved and will do most anything to get it resolved. He is abreast of developments. We talk on a regular basis about the softwood lumber dispute and how concerned he is about it.
We can be partisan, but I have to come to his defence in this sense. He is very cognizant of everything that is happening with this file and truly wants to see a solution to it. He knows the injury it has caused our companies because of the actions by the United States.
One of the important issues we may not have considered is the issue of ownership of all these companies involved in the forestry industry in our country. It is something that we as parliamentarians sometimes fail to realize. Although we have these huge corporations that through management rights, timber limits and so on claim they own the forests and would like to think so, they do not.
Every tree in Canada is owned by every Canadian. Since forestry is under provincial jurisdiction, all the trees in British Columbia are owned by the people of British Columbia. All the trees in Alberta are owned by the people of Alberta. All the trees in Quebec are owned by the people of Quebec. All the trees in Ontario are owned by the people of Ontario. That is critical to our debate. Unless people feel they are getting advantages out of owning this huge natural resource, the advantages of having and living a better quality of life, they are not interested in carrying on with the ownership of these companies. What we have to do is guarantee our people that they will have a better quality of life because of these natural resources.
Having said that, let me say that sometimes we have to be parochial. As we know, over 8,000 people in northwestern Ontario rely directly on the forestry industry. We have to get parochial about Ontario because we know, Mr. Speaker, you and I, that we do not subsidize in any way, shape or form the harvesting of trees, thereby not giving an unfair advantage to anyone. If there is an advantage through the stumpage rates in Ontario it goes to the people of Ontario. We in Ontario are very comfortable with having any kind of review of the stumpage rates in the province of Ontario.
I would like to impress this upon the minister, because I think it is his position. In the discussion process being taken on today with the former governor of Montana, since forestry is a provincial jurisdiction Ontario should retain its right, in any discussions and any proposed settlement, to carry on with the eventual goal that we have all agreed on in this House. We have agreed that it is time we had free trade in lumber under the NAFTA rules without using the areas of NAFTA under chapter 19, the dispute resolution mechanism on anti-dumping and the countervail. We in Ontario reserve the right to make this determination.
The U.S. has started the fight. We must take this determination to its final conclusion. We can have a review and go to the World Trade Organization. Let us carry our position forward to an eventual resolution. I am sure the Prime Minister, the Minister for International Trade and the opposition would agree that we must finally have free trade with the United States. We can do this if we stay together as a nation, as provinces. It can be accomplished and it has to be accomplished now. There should be no further argument with respect to free trade in lumber going to the United States.