Mr.Speaker, since the expiry of the softwood lumber agreement last year, forest industry employment has been slashed by 25%, throwing over 20,000 Canadian forest workers out of work.
In Okanagan Falls, recently announced prolonged layoffs affected hundreds of families in my riding. In the Nicola Valley, where unemployment is already at 40%, a further 163 hardworking constituents have been laid off in the past month at two sawmills and a construction forestry company.
The softwood lumber dispute is not the only disaster facing the forest industry in B.C. The mountain pine beetle infestation is the largest and most severe epidemic of its kind in Canada's history, and there is still no realistic involvement by this federal government, only misguided and delayed actions affecting a province which is going to be losing approximately one billion cubic metres of infested wood by next year.
Now more than ever it is time for the federal government to understand the problems faced by British Columbians and work with us on meaningful solutions. Let us give our citizens some reason for hope this Christmas season.