Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his very kind remarks at the beginning of his speech and I want to reciprocate by saying that I think he is also a very hard working member. In fact I would venture to say that almost all members of parliament are hard working.
I rise once again to hold the government to account for its lack of strong action on behalf of the Canadian softwood lumber industry. I have spoken with constituents from my riding of Nanaimo--Cowichan who are astounded with the government's lack of response toward the softwood lumber duties and tariffs. I would suspect, without having conducted a scientific poll, that they would be very much in agreement with the motion which we are presenting here today:
That this House has lost confidence in the government for its failure to persuade the U.S. government to end protectionist policies that are damaging Canada's agriculture and lumber industries and for failing to implement offsetting trade injury measures for the agriculture and lumber sectors.
While my riding has an agricultural base, it is relatively small in comparison to the softwood lumber industry so I will focus my remarks on that area. I recently did a count of how many times I have spoken out on softwood lumber since I was first elected to the House in 1997. This will be my sixth major speech on this topic. I have had six member's statements and sixteen press releases. I have written countless letters to constituents and ministers, including invitations to visit Nanaimo--Cowichan, and I have given dozens of interviews with local newspapers and radio and television outlets. This is a hot topic in my riding.
There is no other subject that I have spoken more about and yet it seems there is no other subject that the government has done less about. The constituents of Nanaimo--Cowichan whom I see in the streets, at the stores and at community events all ask the same question: Why is the government not doing something to resolve this situation?
It is a simple issue to understand. The United States, for all of its grand talk about being a free trading nation, really is not. It is a protectionist country and will do everything to protect its own citizens, businesses and economy. In many ways, of course, we would find that admirable. However, it flies in the face of everything the United States says publicly to Canadians and to the rest of the world.
I agree with the premise that we do not want to have ongoing subsidies, trade wars and undue tariffs and duties at the 49th parallel, so what is the real problem here? May I suggest that the problem is that this government and ultimately this Prime Minister really have very little credibility, sway or force in Washington, D.C.? Is it any wonder that Canadians as a whole have lost much confidence in the government? When it has no effective voice with its largest trading partner, the Canadian people lose confidence in the government itself.
The government cannot say it was not warned about all of this by the official opposition. Time after time, year after year, long before the agreement expired, Canadian Alliance members, and the Reform before them, have risen in the House to ask questions, raise negotiating points and ask for the government's plan of action and details on how it was dealing with the changes to the softwood lumber agreement. For the most part all we received was the “don't worry, be happy” routine.
In the past, the secretary of state called the people of B.C. nervous Nellies when they raised public concerns. The Minister for International Trade stated that no jobs have been lost due to the current softwood lumber problems. When that sort of thing is heard in my riding, heads begin to shake.
The government does not seem to get it. I have challenged and invited members to tour my riding and meet some of the real people who have been affected by the government's lack of response. The people of Nanaimo--Cowichan, indeed all Canadians, should be nervous, nervous with the lack of response from the government concerning softwood lumber.
The minister needs a serious reality check when he says that no jobs have been lost. According to Human Resources Development Canada in my riding, there were over 725 new employment insurance claims up to the end of March 31 of this year that were directly related to the softwood lumber industry, and an estimated further 2,000 jobs lost through the spin-off effect of the regional economic downturn. These numbers do not reflect the people who have taken retirement from the industry altogether, who have taken a job in another industry or who have moved out of the area. Sadly, there have been many people in that last category. That is just in my riding alone.
With the 27% duty in effect, local mill owners and managers are now looking at their remaining staff. Employees are living on the edge, expecting the layoff axe to fall at any moment. These are people who are being thrown out of their careers through no real fault of their own.
The loss of confidence in the government has evolved through empty promises and platitudes stemming from the inability of the government to negotiate in a strong and forthright manner with the United States. Yes, I believe in free trade and negotiated settlements, but when we come to the negotiating table we must approach it from a position of strength and have something to trade.
My colleagues and I suggested long ago that we needed to put ourselves in a stronger negotiating position. We have heard that echoed somewhat by some of our own government ministers from B.C. Schoolyard children know this lesson well. They know that to trade their bag of marbles for someone else's hockey stick may require an incentive such as their baseball as well.
Canadians know that we have other resources that the Americans want. California not only wants our B.C. hydro, it needs it. Another hot summer of rolling brownouts and blackouts shutting off air conditioners will drive the point home. Chicago and the midwest would sure like to have our natural gas to heat their homes during the cold, windy months of January and February. The American energy companies are actively looking for ways to put in pipelines from Alaska to the southern 48 states.
Simply put, the time for this is long past, and we need to start negotiating and playing hardball at doing it. Why can we not protect and build our Canadian economy, save Canadian jobs and expand our softwood lumber industry? What does the government not understand?
Previous governments and many Canadians worked hard to develop a rules based free trade agreement with both the United States and Mexico that would bring some guaranteed access to their markets and keep Canadians working. Yet in this present dispute, our government has failed to keep even the market share in softwood lumber we had previously in the United States and has allowed it to be taken over by non-NAFTA countries such as Sweden and Brazil, which now are reaping the rewards of our hard work. That is simply unacceptable.
The U.S has attempted to tarnish the forest practices of all Canadians. Canada's timber supply is mainly through crown land, compared to the American system which is over 50% private woodlots. While the Americans want a Canadian public auction process, the government has failed to point out that most wood sold in the U.S. is brokered through private deals, not public auction.
The government has failed to adequately point out that while the Canadian softwood lumber industry has regularly upgraded equipment and technology, much of the American industry has not. In turn, the government has failed to point out that American softwood lumber policy is being run largely by lobbyists for private U.S. companies. Need I remind the House that some of these lobbyists work for companies which have profits that are individually far greater than those of even our biggest companies combined?
I come back to the fact that I have twice invited the Minister for International Trade and his parliamentary secretary to visit my riding for a reality check. So far they have been conspicuous no-shows. It is due to this lack of inaction on the part of the government to put a personal face to this economic tragedy that my constituents, and Canadians alike, see this as another failure on the part of the government. It is a part of restoring confidence in government to help Canadians.
I will be voting in favour of the motion, reflecting, I believe, the attitude of my constituents:
That this House has lost confidence in the government for its failure to persuade the U.S. government to end protectionist policies that are damaging Canada's agriculture and lumber industries and for failing to implement offsetting trade injury measures for the agriculture and lumber sectors.