Mr. Speaker, right from the start of the softwood lumber crisis we were aware that, legally speaking, Canada had every chance of coming out on top in this trade war with the United States. There has been a concern right from the beginning, however, that the Americans were just trying to buy time so that they could get rid of the competition by the time the dispute was settled, predicting that no assistance for businesses in this sector would be forthcoming.
Is the federal government not shirking its responsibilities by leaving these lumber companies to fend for themselves and thus walking right into the trap set by the Americans?