Mr. Speaker, I wrote to you for leave to make a motion pursuant to Standing Order 52 for the purpose of discussing Canada's trade relations with the United States which requires urgent consideration by the House.
Yesterday the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled against Canada in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. softwood lumber industry. The USITC ruled that Canadian imports of softwood lumber imposed a threat of injury to the U.S. industry.
This announcement is the worst disaster case scenario for Canadian forestry workers, communities and the industry and is a major hit on the Canadian economy. The Canadian federal government must take bold action and strong leadership at this crucial time. A contingency plan announcement containing worker relief and tariff payment measures is required immediately.
In addition, the U.S. congress adopted its farm aid bill yesterday which will now put an additional $73.5 billion U.S. into its farm subsidy program and the new bill will introduce protectionist barriers that will restrict Canadian exports worth billions of dollars each year. The government must move quickly to protect Canadian farm families. Any additional delay could be disastrous for the agriculture industry.
This affects two of our major industries and tens of thousands of people will be out of work. We must talk about it in the House of Commons, and the sooner the better.