Mr. Speaker, the minister knows full well that the Conservatives violated their own softwood lumber agreement back in 2007. The minister actually made things worse when he tried to buy a solution back in April, and in doing so, we now know that the Conservatives further violated their own agreement.
What took place yesterday in the London Court of International Arbitration tribunal came as a surprise to no one who has been studying this issue.
The Conservative strategy has been to do nothing but to delay. This past spring, the Conservatives literally tried to buy time with payments, paid for and offered by Canadian taxpayers. They perhaps hoped to punt this issue, to cover their mistakes, to punt the issue beyond the election, but these delays have meant economic uncertainty and job losses for Canada's forestry workers, a sector that has been pummeled time and time again under the Conservative government.
The softwood lumber agreement was supposed to stop this litigation. It was supposed to bring peace in our time. That was the promise from the Conservatives. That has not been the reality. The reality is that the litigation continues and the Conservative incompetence has worsened the situation.
The export duties on softwood lumber products continue. Meanwhile, the U.S. forestry industry has held onto and profited from $1 billion in export duties that was previously owed to Canada's forestry sector. It is amazing that the Conservatives would call giving $1 billion to our forestry competitors in the U.S. a victory for the Canadian forestry industry.
The Conservatives have failed Canada's forestry sector. Canadian forestry workers deserve better. How can Canadian forestry workers trust a government that does not even understand its own trade agreements? How can Canadian forestry workers trust a government that breaks its own trade agreements?
Canadian forestry workers deserve better.