Mr. Speaker, at this time of the day, and considering the number of speeches heard on this issue, one is under the impression that everything has been said, or almost.
Still, I want to add my voice to those of my colleagues and thank the Bloc Quebecois for proposing this emergency debate. As we know, an emergency debate does not always enjoy the unanimous support of the House. But I sense that today we are close to it. I am convinced that if there are forestry workers listening to us, at least they will be unanimous.
My region is one of Quebec's most important forestry regions. In the riding of Champlain and surrounding areas, there are close to 3,800 forestry workers. I recently had the opportunity to meet some of them and I can say that, for them, it is urgent that the situation be settled.
When forestry workers in the Haute-Mauricie or elsewhere in Quebec lose their jobs, possibly the only jobs that they can have, they hope for a quick settlement.
In La Tuque and in more remote areas in the bush, the choice of jobs is limited, particularly at this time of the year. When we see plant closures, or when we live in fear of such closures, it is extremely difficult, particularly just two months before Christmas, at the beginning of winter.
Earlier, the minister congratulated the Prime Minister and congratulated himself on the debate and on their efforts to try to settle the softwood lumber issue. I agree that they worked hard, but the fact is that so far their efforts have been in vain.
Perhaps the strategy could have been different. Perhaps the minister could have sought out all stakeholders across the country so that, together, they could present a common front. He said he let the provinces and industries negotiate; but this is perhaps not the time to negotiate, because the negotiation has already taken place.
It took place when we signed the free trade agreement. Will we have to launch into negotiations all over again every time there is a problem? I do not think that the minister wants to negotiate. I think that he wants to see the free trade agreement respected. But, for that, a very firm approach will probably be required.
For workers in our region, as for workers elsewhere in Quebec and Canada, who face losing their jobs because of the arrogance—and perhaps, a bit, the contempt—of the American government, I think that this is a bit contemptuous.
We heard that, at the meetings, the American government said that lumber accounted for barely 2% of trade. But it is 100% of the earnings of forestry workers. It is 100% of their worries about the winter ahead. It is 100% of their income, with respect to all the things they will have to pay for to provide for their families.
For a big government, for a big country which not only thinks it is rich, but is, this 2% is perhaps a way of flexing its muscles. It is perhaps only 2% of trade, but it is 100% of the problem of workers who have to contend with this arrogance.
Recently, some workers asked me to explain free trade to them, to explain who it was for and why we had it. I am for free trade. We said this today, and I think that most people are for it. But must it all be one-sided?
Can a government, through its arrogance or because of the pressures from influential people, interfere at any old time and create a mess elsewhere claiming that free trade applies more or less in some cases, because they claim there are subsidies that should not exist? If free trade is going to work, then it has to work both ways. When we sign a free trade agreement, it has to be respected by both sides.
We cannot forget that this issue has already been heard by the WTO, and we won. The minister once said here in the House that we need not worry, that we would win again. He said that at some point, the U.S. government would be required to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars in duties it had charged us for nothing.
But the workers who lost their jobs, their homes and who, in some cases, had to take their children out of school, because they could no longer afford it—in the case of a child that wanted to go to university—they were not paid for their damages. They had to suffer.
It would seem to me that in this day and age, especially given the events that took place recently, people should start governing with more compassion, keeping in mind those they have made to suffer and whom they could help with the laws and regulations they adopt.
From time to time, I have the opportunity to meet Americans, since half of my family is American. When it comes to incidents such as this one, I find it difficult to congratulate their government. Some have talked about American consumers. But it is not all American consumers who agree with the pressures that have been brought to bear. American consumers are not done any favours when they are forced to pay, as the member mentioned, something in the order of $3,000 or $3,500 more for a house because of duties.
At some point, there needs to be pressure so that when an agreement is reached, when it is also important for the future of workers, the agreement needs to be respected and arrogance and contempt have to be put aside.
I am asking the Canadian government to show as much leadership as possible in this matter, not to negotiate and not to make any tradeoffs. We cannot make tradeoffs on such an agreement by saying “If you honour your agreement, we will give you increased access to our resources”. It simply cannot be done.
Such an agreement must be honoured. I think that the government and the Prime Minister must take a strong stance, with the support of all those who have a say in this matter, so that we have a common position to solve this problem once and for all, and not at half price. Softwood lumber must be included in the free trade agreement.
We must also think about the workers who, inevitably, as I said earlier, will suffer the consequences. It seems to me that with an accumulated surplus of $35, $36 or $37 billion in the employment insurance fund, now is the time to show a little more compassion. That money belongs to forest workers as much as it belongs to anybody else. Now is the time to show a little more compassion by relaxing eligibility requirements somewhat.
When workers lose their jobs with winter fast approaching and, on top of being unemployed, they cannot get EI benefits because of stricter eligibility requirements, even though they paid premiums, that qualifies as hardship.
On behalf of these workers, I am asking the government, as did my colleague who spoke before me, to relax EI eligibility requirements to help them get through the winter.