Mr. Speaker, in two days, American duties of 27.2% will be applied against the softwood lumber industry in Canada and Quebec. The bill will total almost $3 billion. The government announcement last week of $75 million in assistance for the forestry industry is not only completely insufficient, but it completely misses the mark.
Does the Minister for International Trade understand that a grant for research and development does nothing to meet the immediate needs of the industry and does nothing to help the 1,800 workers who have lost their jobs since the beginning of the dispute?