Mr. Speaker, I think I speak for all members in the House when I say that it has been a busy summer. From Williams Lake to Anaheim Lake to Quesnel to Prince George to Vanderhoof, I met with the hard-working friends and families of my beautiful riding of Cariboo—Prince George. I met them on the doorsteps and in the coffee shops, whether it was talking to the father of three at the 90th annual Williams Lake stampede or the line worker at L&M forest products in Vanderhoof. They all expressed serious concern about the fact that no new softwood lumber agreement has been reached. Instead of offering assurances that a new deal would be reached, the Minister of International Trade had this to say: It is a complex issue.
It took the Liberals 10 months to realize that trade deals do not magically negotiate themselves. We are 23 days away from the end of the grace period, with no deal in sight. It is simply shameful that the Liberal government is once again ignoring the 150,000 British Columbians employed by the natural resources sector. Once again, it appears that western Canada has been shut out.