Mr. Speaker, this is the third time in a week that I have risen in this House to remind the government of the series of questions we asked in May 2003, calling upon the government to put in place an assistance plan for the softwood lumber industry.
We did get responses from the government, particularly through the Minister of Natural Resources. He explained what they were doing and stated, “If we need to do more, we have said right from day one that we will”. The minister was under the impression that the dispute was going to be settled within days.
Six months later, there is still no settlement. We are still waiting for the government to come up with phase two of the assistance plan to help the softwood lumber industry and help the regions concerned to diversify their economy.
The Minister of Natural Resources also invited opposition members with any constructive ideas to put them on the table for discussion. I have some constructive ideas to contribute. I am asking the parliamentary secretary whether he is prepared to recommend that his government extend the regional economic diversification program, which has had some results in terms of helping businesses out, but that it also create a phase two for the assistance plan in order to help the companies directly.
Why not provide guarantees to companies that have paid more than $1 billion to the U.S. in compensation for the 27% tariffs? Why could the government not guarantee these companies that these fees will be reimbursed, if the U.S. does not reimburse them?
That would be an acceptable form of aide that would help them a great deal and allow them to borrow money from their creditors for other projects such as development projects or purchasing machinery in order to increase their productivity. At present, companies can no longer replace their equipment, because of the situation they are in.
Can we rely on this government, knowing that things will not be resolved tomorrow and that we will probably have to wait another year, to truly implement phase two of the assistance plan for the softwood lumber industry, for the sake of the industry and the workers and to diversify the regional economy?