Mr. Chair, why are we having this take note debate this evening on the softwood lumber issue? Quite simply because the dispute has not been settled. The Americans have decided not to respect the NAFTA panel ruling. We are in a situation where a free trade agreement should apply. The Americans have decided not to respect the ruling. This is the situation we are in today. To show how serious the situation is, I want to read a few lines from a letter that was sent to me by a Tembec employee.
Now the situation is getting even worse. This year we have seen plant closures that have resulted in many direct and indirect job losses. Tembec has over $300 million tied up in the United States because of the softwood lumber issue.
Further on, he says:
The forestry industry operates for the most part in small towns and villages. If the forestry industry is not given any support immediately, we will see even the small towns and villages shut down.
This is not a Bloc Québécois member or an opposition member talking. This is someone who, as a worker in this sector, is experiencing what the forestry industry is going through today.
The same thing is happening in my riding, whether in Saint-Pamphile, Saint-Joseph-de-Kamouraska or Saint-Juste-de-Bretonnière, where there are companies, people and entire villages that depend on the forestry industry. We are all wondering the same thing. How do we get out of this jam? The Americans do not want to respect the NAFTA ruling. In my opinion, the answer is in the question.
Take for example the letter my colleague was mentioning. Twenty U.S. senators have signed it and said that Canada subsidizes its lumber industry. We have taken the right position. What they fail to mention and what we should say in response is that the agreement was examined by a NAFTA panel, which ruled in favour of Canada. We could respond to them and go to Washington as well. We could tell them that the Government of Canada has decided to support its companies by giving them loan guarantees to help them get through this crisis. This is what is currently missing from the government's position.
We are putting up a brave front. The Prime Minister told the Americans they should keep their word. That is very good. That covers a good part of what needs to be conveyed. But the part that is missing is, “I will stand by my companies right to the bitter end. I will give them loan guarantees. When the legal battle is over, they will still be standing. Then, you will give them back the money you levied illegally”.
That part is missing in the government's mandate, and this is seriously hurting the Canadian government's bargaining position. Hopefully, our debate this evening will regularize the situation. In recent years, the Bloc Québécois has repeatedly asked questions about loan guarantees. One needs dogged determination to get anywhere in this Parliament. Today, questions on this issue were put in the House of Commons by all opposition parties. This evening, the president of the Liberal Party's forestry caucus said he was examining this position.
I hope that the debate this evening will leave the door open for the government to act. I am wondering where the blockage is in Cabinet. We kept asking ministers why they were not acting. We never got a clear answer. Legal opinions have confirmed that certain elements were consistent with NAFTA, consistent with WTO rules. But the federal government is not jumping on this opportunity. It is difficult to understand why it is not moving forward on this initiative. The government's strategy is therefore incomplete. I think that this strategy should be beefed up.
First, why would we in this Parliament not pass a motion stating that we deplore the fact that the American government is not keeping its word? Why not send this motion passed by Parliament to all those who are currently negotiating free trade agreements or any other type of agreements with the U.S.? The message would no doubt hit home one way or the other if we said that the Americans do not keep their word. I think that this approach should be considered.
There is also the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, which has already done a fair amount of work in this regard. This summer, I took part in three parliamentary missions. It made me realize how unaware Americans were of this issue. Something that makes headlines here is hardly mentioned in American newspapers.
The Canadian government must really send a much stronger message through diplomatic channels. There are tools available at every level. For example, we distributed maps of each U.S. state that benefits from trade with Canada. We must knock on doors and ask for a reversal of position in a much more energetic fashion.
If we maintain our current attitude, if we merely assert that we are right, that we won our case before the NAFTA panel and demand that the Americans do something, we will not succeed. Once the legal battle is over, there will be no one left, because our businesses will either have been sold or will have shut down. Unfortunately, that has already been the case for a number of them.
I have another suggestion. Earlier, we heard about a partisan Liberal caucus on forestry issues. Why not expand this caucus to include all members of the House and use a non-partisan approach? We could then adopt a common position. Hon. members could also use their frequent flyer points to go to Washington. Would it be possible to have a large number of MPs influence public opinion by travelling to Washington and making Americans aware of the seriousness of this situation and of its negative impact on them?
A few years ago, we undertook phase one, assuming that we would win before the courts and then the Americans would have to bow to the decision. Today we are aware that they have not budged. So now other means have to be used to get them to pay back what they collected improperly.
As members of this House, we have a responsibility to show the Canadian government that its present position is inadequate and too soft. It talks a good game but does not follow up with actions.
There are people affected in every one of our villages, factories are closed or downsized, and families are suffering. The income they were counting on is no longer coming in. A solution must be found. Everybody has made commitments. A motion has been passed unanimously in this House calling for a return to free trade in softwood lumber. We must take all necessary steps to achieve that result. Since the government has not yet done so, our responsibility as parliamentarians is to goad it into action.
It is my hope that in tomorrow's cabinet meeting, or in another one shortly, ministers and members will be able to score some additional points, particularly as far as loan guarantees are concerned, following on the very clear arguments that have been raised in this House. There is no time to be wasted. Many companies are at risk of having to sell out. We could then lose control over an important sector of industry. Let us not forget that our forests are already subject to other constraints that are very hard to cope with at this time, particularly the rising dollar and reduced harvest capacity. Life is very hard for people in a number of Quebec villages because cuts are below 20%.
Last week, government programs were announced to help Quebec deal with the reduction in access to softwoods. The federal government has announced a partial aid package under the same program, but is not allocating any funds to address the softwood lumber crisis, despite the fact that this crisis is one of its responsibilities. It is the one that made Canada's sovereignty an issue in this debate. It is the one that said it would seek a return to free trade for softwood lumber and that this would benefit everyone. Now it must respect its commitments. So far, it has not. As a result, it is not achieving the expected results, because it is taking too long to react.
In closing, I want to say that we have a relationship with the American government and with Americans. The U.S. economy is huge. However, we must raise and put forward arguments in order to ensure that the international community knows that the Americans are not, at present, keeping their word with regard to a ruling by a tribunal mandated under a free trade agreement. We must repeat this over and over to get the Americans to change their position.
We must restore our companies' ability to compete, an ability the Americans took away from them by collecting these duties. We must grant loan guarantees to our companies. That way, when the Government of Canada, parliamentarians and the industry put up a fight, they will know that they are well supported. This position would be different from that taken by government to date.
This is the weakness, the Achilles heel of the government's policy. We hope that, in days to come, we will correct this situation.