Mr. Chair, let me first compliment my colleague from Kenora—Rainy River. He has mentioned that he has been here for a short time, but he has done a tremendous job in that short period of time. He has been a very active member in our northern Ontario caucus.
As a result of being an active member and coming from an area where the forest industry is the aorta, the lifeblood, of all of northern Ontario, he took upon himself to start a caucus called the forestry caucus, embracing all the members of the House of Commons. He has been doing a marvellous job in trying to get into position to get this issue resolved.
An event has happened in the last four or five days that shows what Canada and the forest business in Canada is all about. Some of us in the House could have been as mean as some of the senators in the United States senate, like Senator Byrd and his Byrd amendment and Senator Baucus who always chastises Canadians for their role in the softwood lumber dispute. However, again Canada opened its arms at a time of distress to our friends in the United States. We never saw one piece of wood, one oriented strand board, one piece of plywood that was denied entry into the United States because our friends there needed it.
That shows the friendship Canadian citizens have for our colleagues in the United States. That is something that should never be forgotten in this dispute. They are our friends.
We do not have some friends and unfortunately we have not found a mechanism to reach those people in the United States senate where the trade disputes are being arbitrated. The administration, unfortunately, listens to some of the senators.
However, we should never lose sight of the fact that we are still the best trading partners with the United States. The citizens of the United States are the best friends, and sometimes very close family members, of the people in Canada. That in itself should prompt the United States senate to move quickly on throwing a signal to the President of the United States and his administration that this has to come to an end.
I know my colleague is in favour of a loan guarantee. He discussed it in his closing remarks. Could he explain to us again his position on a loan guarantee of 50% of what is being held by the Government of the United States to support the Canadian industry?