Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to comment on the remarks of the member opposite on the softwood lumber situation.
I have spent 15 years of my life in the forestry sector and mucking around in countervailing duty problems. First of all, the problem is not Quebec versus B.C. versus Alberta versus the maritime provinces. The problem is that the Americans have a different system. They have mostly private lands. The timber is auctioned. In Canada most of the timber is on crown lands and is subject to stumpage and royalties.
In that relative sense, I can tell hon. members that Quebec is not exactly lily white in terms of the relative standing vis-à-vis other provinces. All provinces in Canada have the same battle. We all have to fight the same common system.
In fact it was in 1996 that the industry came to the Government of Canada and, in a pretty broad consensus, argued very strenuously for a five year quota agreement, a managed trade agreement, because the industry was sick to death of these trade wars. The minister at the time, Roy MacLaren, who was a free trader to whom managed trade was anathema, consented to managed trade because the industry wanted to buy five years of trade peace.
When we look at the situation, especially in the maritimes because the member draws the story out of the maritimes, the maritime provinces were excluded because most of the lands there are private lands, as he well knows, and if Quebec could have been excluded, it would have been. However, there had to be a willing agreement on both sides.
I agree with the hon. member on one point. I applaud the Minister for International Trade. He has been speaking out very strongly in a very unified manner on behalf of the industry across Canada. I am very confident that we will prevail.
I would ask the member opposite, what do you think about the relative positions? If you look at the American system compared to the Canadian system, why should we have to defend our system when they do not have to defend their system in the countervailing duty process?