Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. Having served with him in the House for some years, I well know what a vigorous defender he is of the interests of his constituents and of those in the Canadian lumber industry.
He is exactly correct when he says there is a lot at stake here. There is an unfairness in what is being proposed by U.S. senators to our own producers, to the jobs of those producers, to the companies and to their valid profits. I am very pleased that the parliamentary secretary raised the issue, but I repeat for the record that some U.S. senators and representatives have recently introduced two motions in the house and the senate calling for a return to free trade in softwood lumber in the United States..
Why did they do that? They cited the fact that U.S. jobs were being unfairly injured and that housing affordability in the United States was being affected. To put it bluntly, consumers are being ripped off in the United States to the tune of $1,000 U.S., on average, for a home because the United States refuses to be what it says it is, free traders when it comes to softwood lumber.