Madam Speaker, it has been seven years. What I was asking the NDP-Liberal minister for was an outline of actions the government will be taking on negotiating a softwood lumber agreement, not just raising the issue.
The last softwood lumber deal was negotiated by the previous Conservative government, including achieving an extension, which expired in 2015. The Liberals did not negotiate softwood lumber into CUSMA, nor through three U.S. presidents, and they did not sit down and negotiate a new deal.
Lumber production is up in the United States, yet down in Canada. Mills have closed in Canada, thousands have lost their jobs and lumber prices have skyrocketed in large part due to U.S. tariffs affecting construction costs. We now have testimony at the trade committee that increases in lumber costs have increased inflation.
Residents in my riding of Kelowna—Lake Country cannot afford these cost increases affecting construction and housing prices. Could the NDP-Liberal minister tell us how long the government expects the forestry industry and my constituents dealing with inflationary costs to wait for a softwood lumber agreement?