Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to hear a presentation by the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, although it is a little surprising that the government's lead speaker would be someone who is responsible for Asia-Pacific, when we would have expected that the Minister for International Trade, who is the one responsible for dealing with the softwood issue, would have been the lead speaker.
Perhaps it is not surprising given that the Minister for International Trade has stated publicly that he does not believe any jobs were affected by the dispute in the lumber industry, that this was simply an industry adjustment that presumably would have taken place anyway.
Does the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific agree with that statement? Is he prepared to stand in the House and say that he does not believe there have been any job losses? If he does, I would sure like him to come to my riding where there has been a tremendous amount of job loss or, alternatively, if he disagrees with the Minister for International Trade and recognizes there have been job losses and that there will be a lot more, what would he suggest his government should do about dealing with the impact on individuals, companies and communities that have been affected by the job losses that his colleague does not think have occurred?