Madam Chair, it is a pleasure to be able to rise to talk about such an important issue. It is really quite encouraging that we seem to have unanimous support with respect to having the debate this evening. I like to think that, no matter what side of the House a member sits on, we all recognize how valuable Canada's softwood industry is to the entire nation. I genuinely believe that we have a government, whether it be the Prime Minister, the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, the minister responsible for natural resources or, I would suggest, virtually the entire caucus, that is very much concerned about the impact the trade war is having on Canada.
I will be sharing my time, by the way.
The impact is quite significant. I do not think we could overestimate the individuals who work directly in the industry, the entrepreneurs, the businesses and the communities, or the impact of this unfair trade war that is taking place, where once again the lumber industry is being targeted.
Unfortunately, this is not a new issue. The softwood lumber issue has been an issue for many years. It even predates my being elected here in the House of Commons 15 years ago. In fact, if we were to do a bit of history on it, we would probably find that it goes back into the eighties when there was a controversy because the United States did not feel as secure as it should have and was not as sympathetic to the consumers of the United States as it should have been. Unfortunately, whether it was the lumber barons or whoever else, the different vested stakeholders felt it necessary to put pressure on the U.S.A. authorities, which ultimately led to the tariffs and duties we have seen applied to this very important industry.
When we think about the jobs, we are probably talking somewhere in the neighbourhood of approximately 200,000. It is a significant number of jobs. When we think about the value of the industry to our nation, to the GDP, we are talking billions of dollars every year. That is why it is not only the people working directly but everyone working in the industry indirectly who are affected by these unfair tariffs that have been put on Canadian softwood lumber. We do not have to be from the province of British Columbia or Quebec or other jurisdictions that export softwood lumber.
This is why I am pleased we are actually going to have this debate today. I will be very interested in hearing what kinds of solutions or thoughts members have to address the issue.
The Prime Minister has been very aggressive on the whole trade file. Even though that will have an impact, we have other ministers who are seriously looking, and I am looking at the Minister of Finance in particular, at providing supports in the interim, because I believe, much like with the trade agreement, that we need to ensure that we continue to move forward with discussions that will ultimately see the best deal for the industry. That is something all of us, at least in the Liberal caucus and I would like to think all members, would like to see: the best deal for Canadians and, in particular, the industry.