Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise today to speak about a critical ongoing issue, the uncertainty in Canada's softwood lumber industry. The industry and the many thousands of workers whose jobs depend on its viability are deeply concerned that the government cannot seem to get a new deal with our friends in the U.S.
The Liberals promised they could get the job done, but the standstill period has long since expired, and the U.S. industry recently filed a petition with the Department of Commerce, asking for duties to be slapped on Canadian imports.
The industry is already hurting. This fall, the Tolko mill in Merritt, B.C. closed its doors, leaving 200 people out of work in a small town that depended greatly on these jobs. It closed because of a lack of timber supply resulting from the end of salvageable beetle timber, another issue compounding the uncertainty facing B.C.'s forestry sector.
The same company recently sold another mill in The Pas in Manitoba. This mill, too, is the town's single largest employer. If a buyer were not found, the mill was set to close its doors.
I think this speaks to a wider trend in the industry that we should be very concerned about as this softwood lumber dispute continues with no prospect of a resolution. Lumber mills and saw mills tend to operate in smaller towns where they are the town's biggest employer. If mills are forced to close because of the softwood dispute, entire towns and communities are devastated.
In early 2017, the U.S. is expected to begin applying tariffs to Canadian lumber, despite the fact that Canada has consistently proven that our softwood lumber is not unfairly subsidized. The prospect of Canada's getting a fair deal with president-elect Trump seems like a daunting task.
Last week, Quebec announced that it's prepared to provide loan guarantees to affected companies, even if the federal government does not come on board.
The Liberals have failed to deliver on a deal, so the least they can do is to give Canadian workers some peace of mind and answer whether or not they will provide loan guarantees. I will ask the government again, is it prepared to provide loan guarantees to assist Canadian companies in keeping their doors open and their workers employed?