Mr. Speaker, we do not have a crystal ball. We cannot know what the outcome would have been. However, we did have a good chance. The assessment of the softwood lumber agreement by the industry, that is, the forestry companies and workers, at that point, four years ago, was that it was the right thing to do at the time. It meant that the industry could survive for four more years.
That was not the assessment of our Liberal and New Democratic friends, who would have chosen, four years ago, not to ratify the agreement and to kill the forestry industry. The problem is not the agreement, it is the fact that the Conservatives have done nothing in the meantime to support the industry. They chose rather to focus all their efforts on supporting the auto industry and the banks. This was particularly true in the case of the auto industry. They have funnelled $10 billion to the auto industry, and only $70 million to the forestry industry, even though the forestry industry employs many more workers than the auto industry.