Mr. Speaker, first I would like to thank the House for this opportunity to debate the issue of softwood lumber. This debate acknowledges the considerable impact the softwood lumber dispute has had on the forestry industry in Canada. Many points have already been made and I will try to reinforce some of these as well as introduce some new ones. Some of the key areas of concern need to be covered.
The first point I would like to make is our great friendship with the United States. We are both very serious about free and fair trade. The softwood lumber dispute is not an isolated one. Whether we are speaking specifically on the softwood lumber sector, pulp and paper operations or value added plants, it is important to realize that the impact of this dispute is wide ranging and has been significant to the entire forestry sector. When I make comments tonight on the forestry sector, I am in fact speaking about the softwood lumber issue.
I would like to take a minute to talk about the issues in my riding of Kenora. My riding covers almost one-third of the land mass of Ontario. Some of the greatest boreal forests in the world are part of my riding. This tremendous expanse of natural beauty and economic opportunity is our home. We have pride and respect for our forests and we realize we are there to look after our forests for future generations.
We understand the power of our forests. The modern world has come to depend on their products, be they lumber for our homes, paper products for our businesses, or the stabilization mechanism for our environmental initiatives. We have what the world needs and the world is willing to pay a fair price in a fair trade marketplace.
In the riding of Kenora we have two pulp and paper mills, an engineered lumber plant and numerous sawmill operations. These mills range in size. There are the very large operations like McKenzie Forest Products in Sioux Lookout, Kenora Forest Products in Kenora and the Weyerhaeuser sawmill in Ear Falls. We have medium size mills and we have mills right down to the family run operations that have been in the Dryden area for over 100 years. The Skene family is a perfect example of pioneers who came and took the lumber from our forest to build the communities in northern Ontario.
All of these operations have faced difficulties, and rising costs for energy and transportation for many years, and now they are faced with another obstacle in the softwood lumber tariffs. In some cases this obstacle is proving to be insurmountable. The American administration has decided to ignore parts of the NAFTA, our agreement that we negotiated in order to have tools to protect our Canadian companies in case of trade disputes. We have used this mechanism as we have negotiated a deal. It is time the United States did the same.
The action has kept billions of dollars from being reinvested in capital projects at our sawmills and our plants. Before the dispute the industry was focused and knew what it had to do. It understood the importance of new technology in order to achieve maximum value from our sawlogs. More than understanding this importance, the industry took action to invest in such technology creating a momentum for the forestry sector. Up to a few years ago it was not uncommon to read in the local papers about upgrades, new equipment, new plants being built and all this to add value so we could get value out of our Canadian trees. The industry had been enabled and was working with our fair trade markets.
Since the escalation and the adding of tariffs to Canadian lumber, there have been no new investments in our area. These tariffs will have a strangling effect on our ability to renew and operate our plants. In a world of increasing competitiveness, we must guard against threats that will render Canadian companies obsolete. We must not allow the American government to reinvest the billions of Canadian company money received unfairly to increase the American industry's competitiveness. Canadian companies have been responsible in reinvesting in new technologies. We must not continue to allow Canadian companies to indirectly subsidize the American industry which has not kept up with innovation.
With all that is happening, it is no wonder we cannot build the confidence of forestry companies to invest in Canada. In my home province of Ontario we face additional challenges with the increasing energy and delivered wood costs. These challenges affect the ability of forest companies to operate in a profitable and sustainable manner. Whether it is a softwood lumber sawmill or a pulp and paper plant, the entire industry is affected.
To illustrate the interrelated nature of the industry let me give a simple example from our part of Ontario. When the logs are sawn and the residue is chipped, they are sent to the pulp mill. At the pulp mill sawlogs are sorted out and sent over to the sawmill. Because of the great distances involved, the need for cooperation is essential. Thus, if one mill is struggling, as many softwood lumber mills are, the others are affected as well. This is the way business is done in northern Ontario. The strength of one operation is the strength of all. All operations need to be viable to support the others.
The softwood lumber issue creates a ripple effect all through the forestry sector. We cannot lose or slow down one aspect of forestry without causing job losses throughout the sector.
We need a resolution to this dispute. We need our American counterparts to honour their part in NAFTA. As a country we need to have confidence in the agreements that we have chosen to abide by. We as Canadians have lived up to our part of the agreement and we expect our friends to do the same.
At our forestry caucus we have been gathering information, talking to communities and companies. We have been working with departmental officials to find ways the federal government can become involved with forestry. We have been very conscious of the provincial jurisdictions involved in this matter.
We understand the provinces have plans to help the forestry industry. We as a federal government need to find a way to support the provincial efforts, to bring confidence to the forestry companies so they will invest back into their plants, their operations and our communities.
We owe it to the families. We owe it to all the communities that are dependent on the forestry sector for their livelihood. We owe it to a sector that is one of the world's leading exporters. We owe it to an industry that is responsible for the largest private sector employers of aboriginal people in Canada. We owe it to Canada.
By strengthening the forestry operations, we will strengthen our communities, our provinces and our country. The softwood dispute has carried on for too long. We have had agreements that have carried on for a number of years, but there have been no lasting solutions. This time Canada has succeeded through the NAFTA rulings one after another. We have used all the mechanisms at our disposal and we have repeatedly won disputes. We need our American friends to honour the NAFTA agreement. We need to keep Canadians working in the forestry sector.