December 7, 2001

OTTAWA-Today in the House of Commons, Jay Hill, MP (Prince George-Peace River) rose and delivered the following statement regarding government inaction on the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic: 

“The province of British Columbia continues to pay a hefty price for not having an influential Cabinet Minister. 

Just as it has done with the softwood lumber dispute, this government has failed to step in and offer to help the province in our fight against the mountain pine beetle. The minister of natural resources now seems to believe his government has done its part – it pointed out to the province that it had this problem in 1995 with the timely advice – you might want to fix it! 

As with healthcare and highways, this government has abandoned my province to find the money and resources to combat a crisis. This is a complete reversal of the Minister’s position in may when his response to my question was that the government was anxious to pursue every reasonable means by which they could help our forest sector find a solution. 

A fight against the beetle costs money. On November 6th I wrote to the Minister of Finance to ask that he allocate $50 million annually to fight the mountain pine beetle. 

If this government takes the issue seriously, the necessary funds will be targeted in Monday’s budget.”