Denis Lebel

[Forestry Industry, November 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I must remind my colleague that the softwood lumber agreement was introduced to protect the Canadian forestry industry and, of course, Quebec's industry. The U.S. domestic market absorbs the entire U.S. softwood lumber production. We will continue to work to support the Canadian and Quebec forestry industry in order to allow them to continue to export the softwood lumber produced in the regions of Quebec and the rest of the country.

The automobile industry does not have such an agreement. It is a free market. We will continue to support Quebec's forestry industry.

[Forestry Industry, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this is more disinformation, as usual.

I would like to quote another source, Mr. Harvey, the executive vice-president and chief financial officer of AbitibiBowater:

We have considered EDC a trusted partner for over 40 years, and we really appreciate its support for our risk management and financing programs.

Forestry comes under provincial jurisdiction, and procurement and such projects are the responsibility of the Government of Quebec, which our task team will support.

[Forestry Industry, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, of course we are thinking about the workers and their families who are affected by this closure. I would like to quote some people who know what they are talking about.

André Tremblay, the president of Produits forestiers Saguenay, said this:

Produits forestiers Saguenay will monitor developments in the market in the coming months and may resume operations if there is a significant improvement in demand and prices.

The mayor of the municipality of Saint-Fulgence, Gilbert Simard:

—indicated that he understood the reality facing the sawmill.

He believes that the mill could reopen when the American market recovers, that it will show signs—

[Community Adjustment Fund, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it has been my pleasure to make a number of announcements, just as several of my colleagues have done across Quebec.

The community adjustment fund serves all regions of Quebec. Canada Economic Development's mandate is to help regions that are struggling economically, and we intend to do our job.

I would like to thank the 400 public servants working in 14 business offices across the regions of Quebec. These people analyze all of the applications we receive. Unfortunately, we cannot help regions that do not ask for financial support. We will continue to do our job. As long as people ask for our help, we will take action.

[Community Adjustment Fund, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to remind the member of the facts.

The facts are these: thanks to the community adjustment fund, our government, together with the Government of Quebec, has made over $230 million available to the silviculture and forest resources management sectors in all regions of Quebec.

We will continue to do our job. The member recently came to my riding and said that I was not doing my job. Now he says that I am doing it too well.

[Forestry Industry, October 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it comes as no surprise that a former provincial minister from a party that is friends with the party opposite would make such comments. It is not really surprising.

We are going to keep on doing our job. I just said that there are trade secrets involved that must be kept. However, during the year, EDC has issued press releases confirming that two kinds of assistance have been provided: Kruger has received over $24 million and AbitibiBowater has received $42 million in loan guarantees. EDC has made these things public. The full list may be very long.

[Forestry Industry, October 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of ignorant, I would like to tell my colleague that the organization in question is a crown agency called EDC.

Through all of its financial products, EDC has provided the forestry industry in Quebec with $16 billion in support in the past 21 months. The information will be released in due course. There are trade secrets involved. The companies that receive support can go to a financial institution and access credit with the letters or guarantees they are given.

Since there will be a second question, I will be pleased to answer it.

[Forestry Industry, October 21st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of Quebec's private woodlots on many occasions. As a result of the committee's work last spring, we and the Government of Quebec have invested $30 million in Quebec's private woodlots for silviculture and forest resources management.

We will continue to work with that government. Everyone is familiar with the tactic of trying to win votes on the backs of workers who are unfortunately affected by the forestry crisis. We will continue to work for them and represent them.

[Forestry Industry, October 21st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government is very proud of what it has done to support the forestry industry throughout Canada. We recently put together a Canada-Quebec task force. I would remind the House that the committee, formed last spring, has achieved some excellent results, which have been commended by the forestry industry throughout Quebec. In the coming weeks, we will announce what has come out of the committee's work. We will continue to keep our promises.

[Business of Supply, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, let us take the example of Gaspésia. Unfortunately this case is situated in a region that is going through difficult times. Here millions of dollars were injected into a project where even the union partners recently said that they did not want a repeat of the experience. It is an example of sound use of funds that were invested and will have to be invested by the partners, including the Quebec government, of course.

That being said, when we talk about the automotive sector versus the forestry sector, there is an agreement. We signed an agreement on softwood lumber governing the business relations between our country and the United States, whereas in the case of the auto industry it is a free market. This must be acknowledged. There are rules in play, and we agreed to sign.

The latest ruling on quotas should be an example to us of the caution required when the time comes to deal with forestry issues.

I recently met with the president of AbitibiBowater, Mr. Paterson, and to a question I asked him about the impact of no longer having a softwood agreement, he mentioned countervailing duties that could range from 30% to 40%. The impact of the quota penalty is 10% on top of the 5%, which takes us to 15%, and we wonder whether our industry will pull through. Imagine if it were 30% or 40%.

So the whole forestry portfolio has to be managed with a great deal of caution so that we can get through this crisis. Companies do not close down when they can get good prices for their products. We are fully aware of this. As for the automotive industry, which represents 12,000 jobs in Quebec, no one wants to choose one province over another. If there are any who do, they are not among us in government; we do not want to create a crisis among the provinces. It is the last thing on our minds.