Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. The only reason the softwood lumber agreement was passed is that the Bloc Québécois supported the Conservative Party. The other two parties in this House voted against it, and if it had not been for the Bloc Québécois' support, the agreement would not have been passed in Parliament and the crisis would now be even worse than it was.
That said, there is another important consideration: we need a real assistance program. We are helping older workers re-enter the workforce, and that is fine, but 20% of the people who were laid off are too old to re-enter the workforce. We cannot find new jobs for them. The Conservative government still has not provided any tools, such as an older workers assistance program, to help these people bridge the gap between being laid off and collecting old age security. Recently, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development created another committee, but it will be six months before it reports.
Can the parliamentary secretary assure us that the next budget will contain concrete measures like the ones the Bloc Québécois proposed in its action plan in September to enable this industry to recover its vitality and ensure its competitiveness?
We are going through hard times. The softwood lumber agreement drove prices down. The agreement now covers nearly the entire market. We have no choice but to pay the taxes. The situation will remain difficult.
Can we be sure that the government will have a clear plan to help the forest industry, and that it will make its plan known in the budget, at the very latest?