Mr. Speaker, until recently the silence from the Prime Minister regarding the softwood lumber dispute has been deafening.
On behalf of all Canadian families dependent upon the harvesting, manufacturing and marketing of lumber, I asked the Prime Minister on November 2 to immediately go to Washington to settle this issue. Apparently immediately to him means four and a half months or 130 days.
Nevertheless I wish to congratulate the PM for finally fully engaging the president on this critical file. With March 21 less than a week away hopefully it will not be a case of too little too late.
This reminds me of another crucial issue threatening the future of British Columbia's forests and economy, the mountain pine beetle crisis. I ask the Minister of Natural Resources to clarify whether he has received a commitment from the finance minister to provide the $600 million over 10 years as the federal government's share of the funds necessary to combat this epidemic.