Mr. Speaker, since the softwood lumber crisis began, the federal government could have helped this industry by providing loan guarantees, as allowed under the international agreements, but it did nothing of the sort. After letting the companies struggle along for two years, the Minister for International Trade is now prepared to sell them out by negotiating a unfavourable resolution to this conflict.
Since our softwood lumber is not subsidized and since the WTO will uphold our claims in less than a week, why has the Minister for International Trade decided to back down and further undermine these companies?