Todd Doherty

[Softwood Lumber Industry, November 25th, 2025]

Madam Chair, it is typical of a Liberal to deflect, put the blame on everybody else and ask, “What would you do?”

The Liberals have been in government for 10 years. They have done nothing for 10 years. In 10 years, we would have gotten a deal done. We did in our previous Conservative government. In 79 days, we got a deal done. Not only did we get a 10-year deal, but we negotiated a one-year grace period in between, which the Liberals squandered.

The failure lies squarely at their feet. They can deflect all they want and point fingers all they want. Those are weak arguments.

[Softwood Lumber Industry, November 25th, 2025]

Madam Chair, I am going to pick up where our hon. leader just left off. It always comes down to home for me. It is friends and families and it is the communities in Cariboo—Prince George or across our country that are affected by the tens of thousands of jobs that have been lost.

I have some information for my colleagues across the way. I worked in logging. I ran skidder, and I ran chainsaw for a time. I bucked for a time. I am proud to, maybe, be one of the only ones in the House who knows what it is like to have white bread sandwiches with chain oil on my hand and go out to the blocks early in the morning. I remember a time when our communities were dotted with signs that said that the families there were proudly supported by forestry.

What we are seeing now in the 10 years, and where our frustration lies, is that we have somebody who has been here for a minute trying to say that we have selective amnesia over this. I believe he is from downtown Montreal.

We have people in our ridings and within our communities who are absolutely devastated. I spoke of Lucas at 100 Mile Elementary School. These families are financially ruined. They do not have a job to go back to. These mills are our major producers. They are the major tax base for our communities. When these mills leave, these jobs leave and the families leave.

Why are we angry? Why am I frustrated? It is because for 10 years, I have stood in the House and pressured these guys. The importance of softwood has not even been on their radar. This past weekend, the Prime Minister looks in the camera and says, “Who cares?”

He does not have a “burning issue”. This is a burning issue. It has been a burning issue for 10 years. We were promised a deal, under the first Trudeau administration, within 100 days. We heard of a new-found bromance between the Prime Minister and the new administration south of the border. There have been three administrations, and it has not been a priority. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost. Over 200,000 jobs hang in the balance. We have the other side saying not to worry, that the cheques are in the mail.

Where is the job? That is what they want. They do not want charity. My riding is made up of proud families. There are a lot of families right now in communities all across our province. We will hear from all our colleagues who are here tonight taking part in this and that they are all affected by it. It is very real.

I appreciate the gentleman from Madawaska—Restigouche who spoke about the impact on his riding. The fact of the matter is that it is his government. They can blame anybody they want, but the reality is that it falls squarely at the foot of the Prime Minister, the previous prime minister and the government, in terms of why we do not have a softwood lumber agreement in place.

Whether it is the regulatory burdens that they have also done or the duplication, it is absolutely ruining this once proud industry, and that is shameful. We have absolutely decimated a cornerstone industry within our country, once proud and now absolutely devastated. We need to fight for it. They care. Forestry matters.

[Softwood Lumber Industry, November 25th, 2025]

Madam Chair, forgive me. I appreciate that our hon. colleague has some knowledge and that his communities have been impacted by the Liberal government, by his Liberal team's failure over the last 10 years. I appreciate that he understands the importance of forestry in his riding and in his community, but I cannot see how he shows his face on the doorsteps of forestry companies, when it has taken the government 10 years to get to this point. The Liberals like to blame the new U.S. administration for all the worries we have with the issue, but the reality is that their failures of the last 10 years are to blame.

I want to ask our hon. colleague how he shows his face on the doorsteps of forestry companies.

[Softwood Lumber Industry, November 25th, 2025]

Madam Chair, because of the Liberals' 10 years of failure to get a softwood lumber deal, the U.S. has collected over $10 billion in anti-dumping duties. The Canadian government abandoned the court cases to get that money back. Why did it?

[Softwood Lumber Industry, November 25th, 2025]

Madam Chair, I have been a member of the House for 10 years, and I think this might be the first time I have heard our hon. colleague actually mention the word “softwood”, although he gets up time and time again every day.

It is interesting that the Liberals put up a member of Parliament from downtown Winnipeg, when really it is the smaller communities that are impacted, but he did have some facts straight; there are over 200,000 workers in the forestry industry, which is more than in auto, steel and aluminum combined. In our province of British Columbia, over 30 mills have closed, including 14 in my riding.

In 2015 the Liberals promised a softwood deal within 100 days of taking office. It has been more than 2,900 days. The Prime Minister says that it is not a burning issue and that it does not matter. My question for my hon. colleague is this: Will he fly to my riding and tell little Lucas from 100 Mile Elementary school that his parents, who lost their jobs, do not matter?

[Forestry Industry, November 24th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, the minister mentions more and more supports. People do not want charity; they want their jobs. The Prime Minister clearly said he does not care and that it does not matter. Is he kidding me? Over 30 mills have closed in the province of British Columbia, including 14 in my riding.

Does the Prime Minister know who cares and who matters? Little Lucas does. He is 10 years old and is a student at 100 Mile Elementary school. He could not hold back tears when he was talking about his family members who lost their jobs.

Why does the Prime Minister not fly to my riding, look Lucas's family members in the eye and tell them they do not matter?

[Forestry Industry, November 24th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was asked when he had last spoken with President Trump over the ongoing trade negotiations. He literally looked at the camera and said, “Who cares?” He said that it does not matter and that it is not a burning issue.

Let me tell the House who cares: the over 3,000 forestry workers in Cariboo—Prince George who are out of work and the communities that are being crushed by the softwood tariffs, communities where jobs are disappearing and mills are closing. Families are paying the price for the Prime Minister's failure, and he says, “Who cares?”

When will the Prime Minister start fighting for the workers he has abandoned?

[Addressing the Continuing Victimization of Homicide Victims' Families Act, November 21st, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our hon. colleague for bringing the bill forward. As a matter of fact, I have stood in the House, over the last 10 years, dozens of times to speak to this very issue with respect to the high-profile case in my riding of Cody Legebokoff, Canada's youngest serial killer, who murdered Cynthia Maas, Natasha Montgomery, Jill Stuchenko and Loren Leslie. When he was sentenced in 2016, Justice Parrett said that this gentleman lacks any remorse and should not see the light of day, yet he has been moved from maximum security to medium security without any of the parents' knowledge. When I pressed Corrections Canada and the former public safety minister on it, they told me that it is not an exact science.

I applaud our hon. colleague for the bill, and I would like to offer one more chance for him to talk about the victims' families, because that is really whom we are here for today.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 21st, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our hon. colleague from York—Durham for already making an impact here in Parliament.

The member spoke of the generational nature of this budget in terms of the generational debt that it is levying against our future and our kids' future. One of the things I want to mention is that we are now spending more on servicing our debt than we are on health care transfers to our provinces. We are gripped in the middle of a mental health crisis, an opioid crisis in which more Canadians have died since 2016 than died in World War II.

I want ask our hon. colleague this: Is it is just woeful negligence, or ignorance, on the part of the Liberals?

[Forestry Industry, November 21st, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, our former Conservative government put to bed the longest trade war with the U.S. government. We negotiated a one-year grace period, which these guys wasted.

We are tired of waiting. It has been 10 years, with tens of thousands of jobs lost. Our forestry workers do not need more programs or more handouts. They do not need charity; they need their jobs.

When will the Liberals wake up and realize that forestry matters?