Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Pontiac for giving me an opportunity to update the House on the softwood lumber file. We just approved an action plan with measures worth over $860 million to strengthen the softwood lumber industry, support workers, expand wood

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, much of this investment is available immediately. We have been working for many months, not only across the Government of Canada but across the entire country. The suite of measures that we announced today look, not only in the short term to ensure that workers and c

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question because it is so timely. Just a few hours ago, the government announced $867 million toward the forest industry in Canada. That is a combination of $605 million in loan guarantees offered through the Export Development Corporation and BDC, look

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, there is no question there is commentary, and I always learn from the commentary of the hon. member. She and I sat on the board of the International Institute for Sustainable Development when we were both way younger than we are now. Her extensive knowledge of this

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the world has changed. If this debate would have happened 20 years ago, the balance between economic development and environmental stewardship would have been lame. It would not have been at the centre of Canadian consciousness. It is now. If this debate would hav

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, we came into office with major energy projects under review. We had to make decisions on how those reviews were to be handled in the short term while we looked at permanent reforms to the environmental assessment process in Canada. The member will know that as a

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my hon. friend, and more than that I appreciate the excellent work that he is doing as the natural resources critic. We agree on many things. We agree on doing whatever is reasonable that we can do as a government to look seriously a

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, more important than my agreement with the content of this motion is my complete agreement with the views on this project of our Prime Minister. As hon. members will know, in the immediate aftermath of the election in British Columbia, the Prime Minister publicly a

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleagues, the members for Regina—Qu'Appelle, Chilliwack—Hope, and Portage—Lisgar, for their important and timely motion. I confess that I find myself today in something of an uncomfortable position. Generally I would consider any alignmen

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, the government approved the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline because we believe it is in the interests of Canada. It is in the interests of Canada because it will open up Alberta crude to export markets. The member probably knows that 99% of our exports now go to th

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend's question gives me another opportunity to say that this government believes that pipeline should be built and it should be built because we want to take the crude from Alberta and move it to an export market. We want to create the 15,000 jobs for Albe

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister said this morning, the decision we took on the Trans Mountain pipeline was based on fact and evidence and what was in the best interests of Canadians. Regardless of the change in government in British Columbia, or anywhere, the facts and the ev

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, the government approved the pipeline because it determined that moving crude from Alberta to British Columbia and then to export markets was in the national interest. As members know, 99% of the export of Canadian oil and gas goes to the United States. Therefore, we

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for giving our answer for us. It is important to create jobs in the oil and gas sector. In fact, just last week, the $30 million that we had granted to Alberta is resulting in $250 million of investment to reclaim oil wells. This

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, the review around the Trans Mountain expansion was the most exhaustive in the history of pipelines in Canada. There are 157 recommendations from the National Energy Board. We set up our own ministerial panel, and it went up and down the line. The consensus, after al