Madam Speaker, we have here today a very serious situation. In the province where my riding is located alone, approximately 20,000 people have lost their jobs, their living, their salary and their hope. This is unfortunate, and it is very serious.
Once again, as we have already heard a number of times in the House, I want to speak to the inaction of the government on this important issue.
It is incredible to think that in one province alone, the province in which I have my constituency, 20,000 people have lost their jobs. Think of that number which is said so easily in some sectors of the south, but 20,000 people have lost their jobs.
Madam Speaker, although I cannot push you for agreement, but I think you would agree that if in the Prime Minister's riding, even 20 people were out of work in Shawinigan, there would be a rapid accumulation of contracts for golf courses, hotels, or who knows what. However, 20,000 people in British Columbia have lost their jobs.
This is also the case for many people in the province of Quebec.
I want to speak to the inaction of the government on this issue.
My colleagues have eloquently pointed out time and time again in the preceding few years that when this agreement came to an end, Canadian industry would face these countervails. Time and time again it was raised and time and time again we were assured it was not a problem. It was whistling in the dark. That do not worry, be happy attitude which prevails with the government blinded it to the effects that would be felt in our country by its lack of diligence on this file.
When I and some of my colleagues met in Washington with Vice-President Cheney, it was obvious there had not been an aggressive case made by the government on this issue. When I met with the senator who prepared the petition which went to the president of the United States to get agreement in the White House on the countervails, it was obvious that the senator and others had not been presented with a vigorous case from the government on this issue.
We have seen this with the government on everything, that it is not a problem, what are we getting worried about, that it is not that serious. We have seen the same reflection from the Prime Minister on other issues. He went to Russia and said that Saddam Hussein is not that bad a guy. He went to Australia and said that Mugabe is not that bad a guy, it is not that bad a problem. For months when we talked about this issue he said that it is not that bad an issue and not to worry about it. It is terrible the way the government has mismanaged this file.
In Okanagan--Coquihalla a number of people have been thrown out of work. In the neighbouring ridings, in Okanagan--Shuswap and others, a number of people have been thrown out of work. I would not like to think that this is the case but the evidence seems very strong that the federal government reacts only if it is a case that affects constituencies of its members. If the constituency does not fly that flag, it does not seem to get the action. There is case after case of where we saw action on behalf of the federal government if it affected Liberal constituencies. However, when entire provinces are affected very negatively, we see inaction.
In the House at one point when discussing this file we were informed by the minister and the junior minister that the Byrd amendment in the United States was nothing to worry about and that it was over with, it was off the charts. We thought that good work had been performed by the federal government. Then we found out that the amendment which would not require the industry south of the border to repay the fines was in fact still in place.
We have seen inaction. We have seen incompetence. Now all we hear from the Liberal members opposite is raging, trying to cover the fact that this file has been horrendously mismanaged. This is an issue of free and fair trade. It is an issue which requires a binding resolution process on both sides. It is an issue that belongs at the level of the Prime Minister. Finally the Prime Minister has indicated he will talk seriously about this with the president.
The Americans are our friends and neighbours. However, on this issue we have to be tough. We just heard from a Liberal member who said that it was I who was linking energy and other issues. I do not know how many times in the last few days we have heard the Prime Minister reflect about energy and other products that are free and fair trade and that if the United States wants these looked at, it will have to consider the issue on softwood lumber.
On this side of the House we as the official opposition have always maintained that a relationship is built on a number of issues, a number of facets, whether it is a relationship between two people or a relationship between two nations. There are a number of issues at stake in our relationship with the United States. This is clearly one of them.
We need action. We need this issue settled. We do not need the Prime Minister to come back empty-handed from his visit to the White House. Some 20,000 people in British Columbia cannot wait. Tens of thousands of people in the rest of the country cannot wait any longer.
We need to see action. More than that, we need to see a change of attitude by the federal Liberal government and a change of the arrogance which says all these issues, some of which I articulated today, are not serious. This is serious business. It is the business of the nation. We expect to see appropriate action and a quick resolution to the issue.