Debates of Nov. 29th, 2021

An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, one of the things that we have seen headlines about is that there are over a million job opportunities open for Canadians and employers are unable to fill those positions.

Does the hon. member not recognize that their own programs they put in place have impacted the labour market? What does he think this bill does to fix those things?

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Madam Speaker, our government has created over one million new jobs well ahead of schedule. In fact, the economy is turning on so many cylinders that we have a vacancy of almost 750,000 to one million jobs. That is a good and healthy sign, but we must resolve that a lot of that is because many of the immigrants that we would bring to the country have been unable to come due to travel restrictions. We are a resilient country. We will work very hard to ensure that they come.

If the member opposite is alluding to the fact that people do not want to work, that is a false perception of Canadians. Canadians want to work, Canadians are working and they are working their butts off.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Madam Speaker, we are talking about government supports, but would my colleague not agree that these government supports are a back up, but not as strong a back up as we would get if we could get people vaccinated. The fourth wave is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. To see more people in the restaurants, to see more people comfortable being in the opposition lobby would likely be a lot stronger if we got the vaccination rate up to the levels where people were convinced and were satisfied that they would be safe no matter where they were.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my member of Parliament who is representing me in my riding and my neighbouring riding, which I represent.

The faster we vaccinate and the quicker we encourage others to get vaccinated, the country will be a much safer place, and leadership starts right here in the chamber. Those who are still trying to decide whether they should be vaccinated should show leadership so the residents of their ridings also participate in that. Some on the benches opposite are having a challenging time convincing their own colleagues to get vaccinated.

Those who are vaccinated should encourage those who are not vaccinated to get vaccinated so our country can get back on its feet and we can become more resilient, control the spread and help those health care workers who are really struggling. They are working overtime and non-stop in the ICU, which they would not be doing if people were participating in the vaccination program.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Chair, I like to call where I come from the promised land. We have the honey capital of Canada and 7,500 dairy animals, so it is literally flowing with milk and honey.

I want to start by thanking my team back home. Starting on the home front, I thank my wife for putting up with me and delivering a baby smack dab in the middle of the election. I told my campaign manager that the due date was the third, so I would just book that day off and we should be good to go. Right on schedule little Claire showed up, so I took the day off. I was there for a little while, but she did come on the due date, which was like winning the lottery, so we were pretty excited about that. Claire is doing well and her mother is doing well, for sure.

I want to thank my children. They came out door-knocking with me. Nothing is better than a bunch of little kids coming along to do the door-knocking. They run a lot faster than I do, and they get pretty good at finding the doorbells and making friends with all the puppy dogs everywhere we go. I think there is an average of one dog per house where I come from, so I met a lot of nice puppies along the way, no doubt.

I also want to thank our volunteer sign guys who put on over 7,000 kilometres putting up signs in northern Alberta. It is a few days' ordeal to put up signs where I come from, so I want to thank John and Richard and Stan. They really did a good job.

I want to thank our door-knocking team and Liam in particular. One of the things that I was going to get to later on in my speech is that with all the job opportunities out there I have been harassing Liam that he has to go and get a job. He just told me that he has finally landed a job. While he was a great asset to my team, door-knocking every day for us, it turns out now that he has a job. I hope that he can now put all that door-knocking experience to use in his job, although I am not exactly sure where it is.

I want to thank my extended family and my sister in particular, who goes above and beyond in keeping everything organized, and her husband as well. They do a great job.

I want to thank my campaign manager, Josh. He is all the way from Calgary, though we do not hold that against him. We cheer for different hockey teams, but we are good friends, nonetheless, and he delivered the win again in northern Alberta. Congratulations to Josh, and thanks.

I also want to take this moment to congratulate the elected senators in Alberta. Bang, bang: Right after each other, we ended up having two elections simultaneously. The municipal elections were happening during the federal election, so we had those together. It was great to see that the Conservatives on the ballot took the number one, two and three spots here in Alberta. I look forward to the senators' rapid appointment so we can get some representation for Alberta in the Senate as we go forward. I note that Senator Scott Tannas is still there, but I am looking forward to the rapid appointment of two new senators representing Alberta.

Bill C-2 is the bill in front of us. I want to talk a bit about what should be in this bill and what is missing from it.

During the last few months, I went for dinner at Brothers Diner in Whitecourt. It is a great little place and has a 1950s retro feel. When I am sitting in there, I feel like I have stepped back in time, but I wish that all the 1950s cars with the big wings were parked outside there, with the high-rise tails and the round cars. A lot of them were aviation-inspired, so while they were not the fastest or the best-handling cars in the world, they were some of the coolest-looking. If I say “Cadillac Eldorado”, people are probably thinking “1950s car”.

It was my first time ever being in that little diner, and I was chatting with the waitress. I said, “I was here last night and the place was shut down. I was here at about 7:30.” She said, “Oh sorry, we close at 4.” I said, “This is a diner, and diners do not typically close at 4.” She said, “We only have three waitresses, and when none of us are available the restaurant is closed.” It was a Tuesday afternoon, and she said they close at 4 on Tuesdays.

That was the situation in northern Alberta. There are just not enough workers to keep the restaurants open, never mind having people come to the restaurants. Folks who started new restaurants during the pandemic were concerned about how this was going to go and they said they have the customers but do not have the employees. We see temporary foreign workers being brought in during the time of a pandemic to staff the restaurants in the area.

One of the other things that the bill does not correct as well is the following. I am thinking about folks who started a Dairy Queen in my riding in January 2020. The owners are unable to collect some of these benefits because their business was started in January 2020. The decision to start a new Dairy Queen did not come overnight, so the decision was made months, maybe years, in advance. A large amount of money was laid out, yet they had no revenues until January 2020, so they did not have a revenue drop from 2019 to 2020. They had no revenue in 2019; they were busy building the building. The grand opening was January 2020. That was one of the things I was hoping we would see fixed in the bill. We did not see that.

The other thing is around getting the pipelines built, supporting oil and gas in northern Alberta, supporting the industry that is the largest percentage of GDP in this country. I was looking forward to having support for that in the bill, to talk about how we can people get back to work and make sure people feel safe, but also make sure the pipelines are defended and promoted in this country.

President Joe Biden in the United States wrote a letter to OPEC asking them if they could increase production by 500,000 barrels a day so that they could reduce the cost of fuel in the United States. The Keystone XL pipeline would deliver about that many barrels a day of oil if it were operating. The president could knock on our door and could approve Keystone XL and could be getting ethically sourced oil from northern Alberta supplied to the United States. He did not do this. Then he said he would lower the price of fuel by using up some the reserves in the United States. The reserves are 1% of 1% of their annual consumption of fuel, so that is going to make a short blip and really is not going to solve the problem.

Between Line 5 and Keystone XL, we see that the bill says nothing about what the plans are for ensuring that the oil patch can continue to operate and get its product to market. We do not see anything like that. The oil patch is also looking for workers. I talked to my friend, Murray, in Slave Lake. He runs an oil field service company and he said he thinks he is going to have to bring in temporary foreign workers to work in the oil patch, starting at $55 an hour. That is the challenge he is facing. He has to bring in presumably Mexican oil field workers because he cannot get workers from northern Alberta.

This is a tragedy. We have people from across the country who have traditionally worked in northern Alberta, but are unaware that the oil patch is up and running again and who are making a calculation between government subsidies and paycheques and deciding that the government subsidy is a better deal.

We warned the Liberals not to mess with the labour market with their subsidies, however, they did not listen to us. They say no, no, hurry up and pass this legislation. We said we will not stand in the way of it, but it would be good to scrutinize this and send to committee to ensure the best ideas come through and that there is no impact to the labour market as we go forward with this $7-billion bill.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I have had the opportunity to ask a number of Conservative colleagues across the way what their personal intentions might be with respect to Bill C-2. I would be very much interested in the member's insights as to whether he would see fit to personally support the principles of the bill, recognizing the pandemic is not over, that we still need to be there for Canadians in a very real and tangible way. That is what this bill would do, whether it is supports for business or for people. Could we expect to see the member personally voting in favour of the bill in principle going to committee stage, given the comments he has just made?

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, we continue to look to the Liberals to give us some assurances that they will be pursuing the fraud that has occurred. We have seen where prisoners have received some of these benefits. Organized crime has been involved. However, we still have no assurances from the Liberals that they will be pursuing any of that.

We are also looking for the committees to get fired up so the bill can have the due scrutiny it needs. There we can bring forward amendments to make these programs better, so in future no fraud will occur or it will not have the impacts on the labour market that some of the other benefits that were put forward by the Liberals had. Some might say that these were bugs in the system. Some would also argue that these might have been features of the system. We want to ensure we build programs that help the Canadians who need it and ensure we can get Canadians back to work, so paycheques, not subsidies, pay Canadians.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Speaker, while the member was giving his speech, I could relate as our ridings touch one another. There definitely are some concerns that are very similar, specifically when it comes to the questions around workforce and labour challenges. Perhaps he could go into a little more detail regarding some of what he is hearing in his riding. I have been hearing a lot of concerns from business owners in my riding. They say they simply cannot find workers for many of these jobs, and some of them are well-paying jobs. Could he further expand on those?

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate the member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake on her election and her new baby Owen. The Conservative caucus has been productive. I also want to congratulate the member for Carleton. I believe he and his wife had a baby during the election as well. It was an exciting time for all of us.

I want to highlight the lack of truck drivers for the big semi-trucks in northern Alberta. We increasingly have a shortage of truck drivers. One area in particular is trying to get them across the border. Many of these trucks are bringing in goods from around the world. Ports like the Port of Vancouver have shut down and we need to bring those containers in from the United States. Although, we are able to build the trucks and buy them, we are often unable to get drivers. It is a key area of concern.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Madam Speaker, we have heard a lot from the Liberals asking us to hurry up and get the bill through. I would ask my colleague what he thinks about the pressure to push it through immediately after they waited two full months to bring Parliament back.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, that is precisely it. We are to hurry up and get this done, yet we had a $600 million election that we did not need. We could have been here debating the issues that face Canadians. Parliament could have returned immediately after the election, given the fact there was not a lot of change in the number of seats around here. Therefore, it seems very rich to me that the Liberals would ask us to hurry up after they caused dramatic delays in this place.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, as this is the first opportunity I have had to speak at any considerable length in this House, I would ask the indulgence of my colleagues for a couple of minutes. I have some words of appreciation that I really must put on the record.

First, I have to thank the wonderful people of Vancouver Kingsway for doing me the honour of giving me the privilege of representing them for the fifth time. It is truly the deepest honour one could have, to be put in service to others, and I deeply appreciate the faith and trust they have placed in me. I will work hard to represent everybody in my riding.

Second, I would like to thank my entire campaign team. There are some key people who played pivotal roles in this election. One was my campaign manager, Ryan Hurley, who is just a sensational person. He led my campaign at a time of great personal difficulty, with his father being terminally ill. One thing we all know about politics is that we can get involved in the issues and the policies, but we are all human beings, and we have personal lives. I want to extend my deepest appreciation and sympathies to him and his family, as he lost his father the morning of election day.

I would like to thank my official agent, Joel DeYoung, who, as has been said by other people in the House, does not only a very extensive job but also keeps us out of prison, which is one of the most important things an official agent has to do. It takes a lot of work.

I do not know if many Canadians know that our campaigns are really run by volunteer power. These are people who donate untold hours and untold skills, with no pay, so that our democracy can keep running. Joel has done that through several elections. I am deeply appreciative to him and his partner, Michelle.

Finally, I would like to thank Carrie Burcic, our office manager, who kept us all organized, which is not easy. As we all know, during a campaign we have many hundreds of people volunteering and there is a lot going on every day.

I would like to thank all of the volunteers who worked on our campaign, whether it was for an hour on election day or for many, many days. Once again, our democracy is powered by the volunteer efforts of ordinary citizens who have taken an interest in their country, and who come to donate their time, skills, talents and passions to all parties represented in the House. I am blessed with a particularly talented and committed group of volunteers in Vancouver Kingsway.

I need to thank my family. I think we all know that no one gets elected to any position at any level in this country without the support and, frankly, the sacrifice of their family. I have to thank my partner, Sheryl Palm, who has been an outstanding campaign partner and who is far wiser, has far better political judgment and is far more popular than I am in Vancouver Kingsway. I hear lots of support for that statement on all sides of the House.

I thank my children, Jaime, Jordan and Cerys. I think we all know that our children play very interesting roles in our lives because they do not get agency. They do not get to make any decisions or give any speeches, but they have to suffer, sometimes the fame, sometimes the infamy, which we all go through. It puts a lot of pressure on our children. I want to give a shout-out to not only my children but also the children of everybody in the House.

I have to thank my sisters, Cheryl and Dyan, who have always been extraordinarily supportive, and my nephew Devon Golchin.

Finally, I want to thank my granddaughter, Sophia Linssen. She is my only grandchild, and it is her future for which I work. She is 11 years old, and she has decades in front of her. I think quite frequently that the decisions we make today in this chamber will impact not only our country but also future generations, for decades and decades to come. We would all do well to remember that when we are deliberating on the issues of the day.

I have to thank the best sign crew in the country, which is in Vancouver Kingsway. People say that whoever comes into Vancouver Kingsway during a federal election will be blinded by orange, and that is what happened. Sandy, Leo, Wally, Max and Renato are the best and I want to thank them.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

The Economy

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to rise in this 44th Parliament, I want to thank the residents of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake for their support in this election. This was not my first election, as I previously had the honour of serving in the provincial legislature, in both the ridings of Fort McMurray-Conklin and Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche. However, this was a very unique election for me and for our riding. It is such an immense honour to be able to serve the people of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake as their elected representative.

Quite frankly, I would not be here today if it were not for the support of my campaign team, my amazing friends and family and, most importantly, my husband. My husband Niall stepped up in a way that very few husbands step up. He is taking care of our son Eoghan as we speak, because I had our baby in the middle of the election campaign. Unlike the member for Peace River—Westlock, who could take a day off after having a baby, it turned out that I needed to take a couple of days off from knocking on doors after having my child. My husband was there to make sure that the baby was well taken care of, and for that I am very grateful.

I love northeastern Alberta. It is where I was born and raised. It is truly spectacular and I welcome everyone to come and visit. Between the lakes and forests, we have just about everything one could ask for.

During the election, I had the opportunity to talk directly with a number of constituents in my riding, and one the big things they shared with me was their increasing fears around the rising costs of just about everything, whether it is gas, groceries or heating bills. The impacts of inflation were really starting to be noticeable during the election, and people were sharing stories with me about how they had cut the amount of meat they were feeding their families. They were not cutting meat because they wanted to, but because they simply could not afford it. They told me stories of how they were going to the food bank and requesting hampers because, quite frankly, they could not afford to feed their families. Unfortunately, because of the government's reckless spending, our inflation has been increasing steadily month over month and they could not make ends meet.

The answer I got from the minister on this was that there was perhaps going to be a promise of child care sometime in the future. This is spectacular for the families that might be struggling sometime in the future, but it does not address the real concerns of the families that are struggling to make ends meeting today. There are so many families all across this country that are struggling because gas, groceries and even diapers are more expensive now because of the Liberals' reckless spending. I really hope the government realizes that these kinds of things are terrifying to families, especially brand new families. I look forward to an answer.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, as this is my first time rising to address the 44th Parliament, I wish to thank the people of Burlington for electing me for a third term. It is a privilege to be here in Ottawa representing them and advocating for our community. It is also an honour, as the new Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, to be working on behalf of the people of Burlington and families from coast to coast to coast.

I want to congratulate the member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake on her election. As someone who recalls bringing a very tiny baby into the House, it is nice to have another mom in Parliament. I am looking forward to working with her to deliver for families across the country.

The Government of Canada has made a clear commitment to support families with young children now and after the pandemic. Through budget 2021 we invested up to $30 billion over five years, with up to $9.2 billion in permanent funding as of 2025-2026, to make this promise a reality.

We are committed to working collaboratively in partnership with the provinces and territories to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system. Most importantly, we are committed to building a system that gives all young families access to high quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care.

We have signed bilateral agreements with nine provinces and territories that will cut child care costs for children under five by 50% next year. Alberta is bringing in this policy as of January 1, 2022. That is pretty immediate action for families in our country. Saskatchewan has already implemented its 50% reduction in fees, retroactive to July 2021. I call that progress.

This is the first step in parents across the country having access to high quality early learning and child care for an average of $10 a day within the next five years. As the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance has said, it is good feminist economic policy. It is also smart economic policy. This is what Canadians expect of us, and it is why we are working hard to conclude negotiations with the four remaining provinces and territories as soon as possible.

In keeping with the co-developed and endorsed indigenous early learning and child care framework, we have also made it a priority to work collaboratively with first nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation to ensure indigenous children will have access to affordable, high quality and culturally appropriate early learning and child care.

There is more. We also continue to support Canadian families with the Canada child benefit.

In July 2016, the government introduced the Canada child benefit in order to better support low- and middle-income families. The benefit is simple, generous and targeted, which means that about nine out of 10 families are benefiting more from it than from previous child benefit programs.

In addition, to ensure that this benefit continues to help families in the long term, the government began indexing it in July 2018, in order to reflect the cost of living, an annual indexing that continues to this day.

The Canada child benefit has already played an important role in reducing child poverty. Since it was introduced in 2017, some 435,000 children have been lifted out of poverty.

These combined measures will help Canadian families continue to put food on the table even with challenges such as inflation at play.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Speaker, one of the things that I also heard at the doors of my constituents were concerns over the radical eco agenda of the Liberal government. They were quite concerned that in the previous Parliament there was a minister who, before being elected, spent his entire life trying to shut down the main economic driver of my riding: the oil sands. Now that person is the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

It is terrifying that we have a government that is so blatantly attacking the livelihoods of people in my riding and people all across this country by not allowing them to get to work. This is something that is of serious concern and that I hope to see the government fix.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I think it is really important to recognize how important the climate emergency is. We are seeing right now in British Columbia the devastating impact of the floods. We saw, over the course of the summer, the absolutely terrifying wildfires.

As the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, I recognize that fighting climate change is something we need to do so that our kids will continue to grow into a hospitable world.

I also appreciate that we need to take care of families and we need to ensure that everyone, no matter which industry they are working in, has a quality, good-paying job that will help to put food on the table and enable their children to grow and have the opportunities they deserve. That is exactly what our government will do.

Forestry Industry

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Madam Speaker, the news last week that the Americans were doubling duties on softwood lumber for Canadian producers is yet another blow to B.C.'s economy.

The communities I represent continue to be hammered by either natural disasters or now a failed trade policy. We simply cannot seem to catch a break.

B.C. is the largest Canadian exporter of softwood lumber to the U.S., and our forestry industry supports 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in the province. Sadly, we have already seen employment evaporate. In 2019, West Fraser closed the Chasm lumber mill, which had employed constituents in my riding. An industry member from Vancouver Island shared with my office that the coupling of the announcement this week with the province's Bill 28, the Forest Amendment Act, is going to be extremely hard on companies and on people. The impact of Bill 28 alone is projected to cause the loss of 18,000 jobs.

Existing employment is now even more at risk during a time we simply just cannot afford. A manager in the industry characterized the duty increase as incredibly challenging, but survivable if it was the only hurdle producers were facing. When combined with the province's harvest deferrals and the reallocation of tenures, all of which are happening at the same time, many companies just do not seem to feel they stand a chance. There is no way to pivot that quickly or spread the economic loss over a number of years.

Another stakeholder similarly shared that, for local lumber manufacturers in B.C. already dealing with soaring log prices due to the significant summertime fires, recent flooding and escalating supply chain challenges, the doubling of the softwood lumber duty comes as a gut punch that puts thousands of jobs and the future of the local industry at risk.

The BC Lumber Trade Council has stated that these unfair duties hurt not only B.C. businesses and workers but also U.S. consumers looking to repair, remodel and build new homes. As U.S. producers remain unable to meet the domestic demand, these duties are a threat to North American post-pandemic recovery on both sides of the border.

What concrete actions is the government going to take to make sure the Biden administration reverses course? The international trade minister is on record saying that the government was pursuing litigation under the new North American trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and at the World Trade Organization.

I sincerely hope the hon. member is able to outline here today the litigation measures the government is taking, the timeline for when they will be complete and the results she is seeking to achieve. My constituents in the industry and across my province require quick action and certainty.

Continued flooding and mudslides in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon only compound the difficulties faced by the people I represent. Additional evacuation orders and alerts were issued last night and this morning in Abbotsford, Mission, Hope and Merritt, communities within and neighbouring my riding. Just before I came to the House I was looking on my Twitter account at DriveBC, and the Jackass Summit, the top of Highway 1 when driving through the historic Fraser Canyon, is completely washed out. It is like the highway was never there. These events are going to have really, really big impacts on my constituents.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Madam Speaker, let me begin by saying how pleased I am to have the opportunity to stand up again to speak on this very important issue. Before I do, I did not have the opportunity yet in this House to thank the people of Markham—Thornhill for electing me and placing their vote of confidence in me. I continue to be humbled to serve as their member of Parliament.

Just like my colleague, the hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, I too take this issue very seriously. Canada's forestry sector is of great importance to our communities, as well as to our economy, and this is why our government has announced $867 million in investment to support affected workers, introduce loan guarantee programs, reduce the risk of job losses, support affected communities, stabilize operations, diversify markets and promote innovation in the sector.

Let me state unequivocally that the duties the United States has imposed on Canadian softwood lumber are completely unwarranted and unfair. More than that, they are harmful to all the Canadian workers in communities across the country for which the softwood lumber industry is an economic anchor. The recent doubling of the duties announced by the United States Department of Commerce is extremely disappointing and unjustified.

We can be proud of our softwood lumber industry, and the government is vigorously defending its interests.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the United States has slapped duties on Canadian softwood lumber. We have been through this before, and each time, the independent dispute settlement panels ruled that Canada was a fair trading partner.

Canada is actively pursuing legal challenges against U.S. duties under chapter 19 of NAFTA, chapter 10 of CUSMA and before the WTO. Let me remind members that the WTO panel ruling on Canada's challenge of U.S. duties on softwood lumber found overwhelmingly in Canada's favour in August 2020. We are confident that this will continue to be the case.

Canadian softwood lumber is a priority for the federal government. While we will continue to defend our industries, interests and litigation until these duties are removed, we are also raising this issue with the United States at every opportunity. The Prime Minister raised it with President Biden earlier this month, Minister Joly raised it with her U.S. counterpart Secretary Blinken and I have raised it on many occasions with Ambassador Tai and Secretary Raimondo.

These duties are unjustified and harm both our countries. We will continue our efforts until we reach an agreement that supports the Canadian industry and its workers.

The United States relies on high-quality Canadian lumber. Adding these unjustified duties merely harms their own consumers and home builders at a time when housing affordability is already a significant concern for many.

I have worked directly with industry. I have convened meetings with industry representatives from across the country and just last week spoke directly with leaders of the sector. I will continue to work hand in hand with our partners to ensure that our approach and any solutions we pursue are informed by the needs of our forestry sector and the workers whose jobs it supports.

We remain ready to discuss terms that will be in the best interests of our country. However, I will make one thing clear: We will not accept just any deal. We will continue to work closely with the provinces and territories, industry, indigenous partners and others to determine the best approach and to stand up for our forestry sector.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the hon. member not to mention the first or last name of ministers or members of the House. Please be mindful.

The hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Madam Speaker, I will mention to the hon. member that reaching a deal is very important for British Columbia. When you move forward in the coming weeks and months, there should be a degree of transparency that lets industry know that the government is on their side and that you are giving a clear timeline about the actions you are taking when you are taking them.

The economic loss is felt. The job losses are real in British Columbia, and all of my constituents and all British Columbians are asking for a degree of transparency. At the end of the day, we know you cannot control what the Biden administration does, but it is incumbent upon your government to reach a softwood lumber deal to give industry the certainty we are looking for.

Finally, to all the voters in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and to my campaign team, I have not said this enough: You guys are awesome. Thank you for putting your trust in me once again. I want to honour that every day. One of the first campaign commitments I ever made was to stand up for the forestry sector.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the member that he is to address all questions and comments through the Chair.

The hon. minister.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Speaker, softwood lumber is a priority for the government. I continue to work and speak with industry, and they know that we are standing by them.

We of course, as I said, are actively challenging the unfair U.S. duties under NAFTA and CUSMA and before the WTO. This is also in close dialogue with industry. We are also raising this issue with U.S. interlocutors, which includes our openness to an agreement that will bring the predictability and stability that our industry needs for its continued success.

We will only accept an agreement that is in Canada's best interests.

We will continue to work with our partners across the country to defend this important sector.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:51 p.m.)