Mr. Speaker, at one time the forestry industry in my riding was the largest employer. Now we are down to about 8,000 jobs in the riding. The whole area along the Ottawa River was originally settled around the lumber industry. There are no other jobs for people to go to in rural Eastern Ontario. The Liberal government has not given any priority to expanding broadband Internet to rural areas and there is a huge broadband and cellphone gap in my riding. We cannot get those high-tech jobs.
Right now, the increased price of electricity is really tough on the lumber industry. The greatest and growing input cost is electricity.
It is tough to get the product across the border into the U.S. market. With the looming carbon tax adding at least another 10%, it will be untenable. More people will be out of work. More people will be hungry. More people will become dependent on other people.