Mr. Speaker, while I thank the Bloc Québécois for raising the issue of forestry, there was a pretense of doing so while having supported so many of the measures that got us into this trouble in the first place.
Forestry unfortunately has become a symbol of the hollowing out of Canada's manufacturing sector, whether we look at steel or the auto industry. Even aspects of the value-added mining industry have gone away from our country.
For Canadians to understand how critical this is for our economic future and where we pick ourselves up from this recession and go forward, it is pivotal to understand that these are the very industries that built this country, that in fact built this place, and enabled governments for generations to provide the health care, education, and spending on things we care so much about. They found their home in many of these industries.
I cannot help but think of Houston, British Columbia, a relatively small town consisting of 3,000 people. They have very minimal health care, barely adequate education, yet every year, doing their part and pulling their weight, being part of the fabric of Canada, they pour millions and millions of dollars into the coffers of provincial and federal governments.
Within the forestry sector in particular, we know it is hard, demanding, and dangerous work. Folks expect over time to put in a hard day's work and receive fair pay. Unfortunately, the very industries that built this country are now being thrown away, chipped away, sold off in negotiations like we saw with softwood, sold off at various times as we in Canada no longer stand up for the values and beliefs that we once held, that there was a national interest.
There are many who would point out and are going to take what I might call “the convenient truth” in their eyes that the only reason we are facing this calamity is because of a world recession, a meltdown in the U.S. housing market. However, those of us who come from forestry communities across Canada have seen the slow and steady erosion of that base across the board. This is not a new phenomenon. It did not start when the housing bubble popped in the U.S. It did not start when the Canadian dollar started to gain value compared to the U.S. This started a long time ago.
Policies were put in place, perhaps with the best of intentions, but had effects on the overall workforce and the overall productivity and efficacy of our forestry sector. This debate is about both the past and the future.