Mr. Speaker, the member made allegations in terms of the Government of Canada's efforts on the softwood lumber issue and he has it all wrong. The fact of the matter is that members of the government right up to the Prime Minister have worked hard on this issue for quite a number of years. We have been supportive of the forestry industry and we recognize that it is extremely important to the Canadian economy.
Although the tariffs and the anti-dumping percentages are there, we have continued to export more product to the United States at higher values. In fact, this morning we met with the maritime lumber industry. Yes, that industry wants the issue resolved, but it was certainly not critical. We are getting some criticism from some of the political parties, but we are really not getting criticism from the industry itself, which knows that we are working cooperatively with it to try to win this argument with the Americans.
In fact, on the weekend a number of Canadian parliamentarians, including a member of the New Democratic Party, were in St. Andrews, New Brunswick speaking with U.S. legislators, again laying out to them the Canadian position on where we are on the softwood lumber issue.
The Government of Canada is indeed working hard. We are aware of the ruling in Canada's favour relative to NAFTA. That shows the kind of background, research and work that was put into that issue by the Government of Canada, its negotiators, its members and others.
Specifically on Bill S-38, the spirit drinks trade act, the member is absolutely right. It is a win-win situation. It shows what can be done when people sit down, negotiate and accept that those negotiations are a win for both parties.
On the other issue, the U.S. does not seem to want to abide by the ruling on a trade agreement that the U.S. in fact signed on to.