Mr. Speaker, on April 27 the Prime Minister announced, with much fanfare, that a preliminary softwood lumber agreement had been reached with the American government. Since then, we have been waiting for the final agreement and the government is refusing to grant loan guarantees, claiming that the final agreement is imminent. While we wait, the industry is having cash flow problems and some sawmills are being forced to close down.
Why is the Prime Minister being so obstinate about not granting loan guarantees to the softwood lumber industry, which has been calling for those guarantees for a long time?