Mr. Speaker, since 1960 the Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board has enforced the lumber grading system in Canada. The board is made up of representatives of the lumber industry, consumer organizations, the federal and provincial governments. The board supervises 98% of Canadian lumber production, including that destined for export.
However, unlike its American counterpart, the Canadian board is not recognized by the government to supervise heat-treated lumber standards. Instead, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recently set up a costly separate process that is forcing the Canadian industry to conduct separate inventory controls.
It boggles the mind that the government would choose to burden the Canadian lumber industry with another level of bureaucracy during this tough time for the industry.