Mr. Speaker, today I have been calling on the government members to address certain questions that are in the motion, asking them what they are doing about creating sustainable jobs for the Canadian forest industry.
I come from a community where raw log exports have gone up tenfold in 10 years. A third of the children are living in poverty in the Alberni valley. Recently, the Somass River was closed for the fishing of sockeye. It is further plunging people into poverty. I am not hearing any solutions from the government side.
I am hoping to hear a serious commitment to the forest sector. I am really grateful that we are finally talking about forestry, because it is not talked about in the House. It was not talked about in the last two Liberal budgets, that we know, and it has been largely ignored by Ottawa for decades.
It would be great to hear some actual commitment. It would be great to actually have a minister show up in my riding. When we have a third of the kids living in poverty, we would think it would be a priority.
I do not want to hear from the members across the way about their child tax saving the day and lifting communities right out of poverty. Jobs lift people out of poverty, and we need jobs in our communities. I want to hear how the Liberals will create jobs in my community. They deserve that.