Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to the Canadian Alliance opposition supply day motion. I am also pleased that all five political parties in the House were able to unanimously adopt the motion to send a very strong message to the United States that we are united on this issue which is a critical issue.
I would like to go back a little bit. I think the motion has been read a number of times but I will read it again. It states:
That, in the opinion of this House, the principles and provisions of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, FTA, and the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, including their dispute resolution mechanisms, should be fully applied to trade in softwood lumber, and it urges the government not to accept any negotiated settlement of the current softwood lumber dispute outside of the FTA and the NAFTA unless it guarantees free and unfettered access to the U.S. market, and includes dispute resolution mechanisms capable of overriding domestic trade measures to resolve future disputes.
I am pleased the House adopted that. I know the minister, and I have spoken to him numerous times, is in very intense negotiations on this file. We do get people asking us if we are looking toward a negotiated settlement. As I expressed to the minister before, I think it is very important to keep all the doors open. If he is able to reach some type of agreement that will eventually get us unfettered access, whether if it is a bridging agreement for a year or whatever, then we should look at it and be open to it. Of course until we see all the details we will not know.
I know the industry in British Columbia is very much saying that if the government can do something that will ultimately give Canada free and unfettered access to the U.S. markets, that would be a good thing.
Although the motion passed with unanimous consent less than two hours ago, I feel it is important to continue talking about what it is all about. One in 16 Canadians employed in this country work in the forest industry sectors. In over 337 communities 50% of the people are directly dependent on the forest industry for economic survival. We have in Canada today in the neighbourhood of 50,000 people who have lost their jobs as a result of this dispute.
The softwood lumber agreement expired last year around this time. It is absolutely critical that we stand united in this country. This is not a partisan issue. The parties in this parliament and the provinces should stand together on this issue against our friends to the south.
Having said that, it is critically important that the federal government negotiate hard and find a solution. It is the responsibility of the federal government on this file. I also have to add that there is a huge level of frustration because of the pain we have had to go through over the last year. A lot of people felt we should have been doing more through the duration of the softwood lumber agreement and that was our opportunity to reach a deal.
A lot of things have happened within the U.S. domestic situation. I agree that they are out of our control but the Americans keep claiming that they are big free traders. However, when we look at some of the things they have done, they are not acceptable.
I want to talk specifically about the Byrd amendment, which is still in place under U.S. domestic law. The countervail duties and the anti-dumping duties are being collected by the department of commerce in the United States. It takes the money Canadian forest companies pay in duties and gives it to the American forest industry. If we want to talk about who is subsidizing whom, it is pretty clear that our Canadian forest industry is subsidizing the U.S. industry simply through this Byrd amendment.
I have put these facts on the table in the hope that the government will take a hard stance on these issues and not back down. If there is an opportunity to reach a bridging agreement, the challenge for the government is to reach an agreement that has an end goal, whether it is six months or twelve months. If we hear the words export tax does that mean it is in place for six months, gets cut in half for the next six months and then we have free and unfettered access?
If we go toward this type of agreement, it is critical that the United States gives us its assurance that we will have free and unfettered access and, if necessary, that the government will amend the legislation to ensure that the U.S. forest industry will not have the ability to cut us off at the knees again. This dispute has been going on for a number of years. It is no secret to the forestry industry, I believe it calls it lumber four, and it has to come to an end.
In my province of British Columbia we export about $5 billion a year worth of softwood lumber to the United States. British Columbia alone exports over half that amount to the United States. There are 30,000 people right now who have lost their jobs and more mills are at risk of going permanently out of business.
Today the Prime Minister is in Washington speaking with President Bush. I hope this issue gets some serious attention on the agenda and not just some passing thoughts. I hope they do not discuss it for a few minutes in a conversation and then move on to other items. The Prime Minister should give it the attention it deserves.
We are at a critical point now as we await the final determination from the U.S. department of commerce next week. The Canadian forest industry could be faced with enormous countervail duties which, I argue, are patently unfair. We must take the United States to task. It claims to be the best free traders when in fact its record shows otherwise.
We have been around this issue a number of times in this parliament. The point I want to make is that it is critically important that the government make this its number one priority. If we end up not being successful in the next few weeks we could be looking at a two or three year litigation process. I admit that if that is what we must do then we should follow that course but Canada needs to make sure that the United States understands what is needed if it wants our co-operation. I appreciate that it is not good trade policy to start linking other issues, and I am not advocating that, but the Americans need to understand that if they want to sing free trade we expect them to live up to whatever agreement they sign.
Canada has been a very good friend, neighbour and ally with the United States in the war on terrorism. We have done more than our share. Looking back to the conflict in Kosovo, the Canadian armed forces were there in great numbers and did a great job. Our armed forces are now in Afghanistan taking a leading role in the war, as we should. I have to tell the House that there are people wondering why we still face these trade issues.
I will conclude by saying how very pleased I am that all five political parties in the House of Commons adopted the Canadian Alliance supply day motion: that in any agreement we reach we ensure in writing that we can reach free and unfettered access--it is critical that we do not compromise that--and that the necessary safeguards and measures are in place to ensure that we will not face countervail duties and repeat claims from the United States.