Finally: A Good Deal For Canada’s Softwood Lumber Industry

September 13, 2006

The new softwood lumber deal between Canada and the United States was signed this week in Ottawa. The agreement is expected to pass a vote in the House of Commons later this fall, meaning that before the end of this year, Canadian softwood producers will see roughly $5-billion CDN returned to them, money the U.S. withheld as duties since 2002.

The agreement ensures stable and predictable access for Canadian softwood producers to the lucrative U.S. market for a full seven years. It also takes into account the varying needs of our softwood-producing provinces and regions. Most importantly, this deal is endorsed by an overwhelming majority of Canadian softwood lumber producers and the governments of our major softwood-producing provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

Here in B.C., Premier Gordon Campbell has called upon federal opposition MPs to support the deal. As one national newspaper editorial pointed out, the Liberal premiers of those provinces have set aside partisan politics in favour of a good deal for the Canadian softwood lumber industry and now it’s time for the federal Liberals and NDP to end their “political theatre”.

Instead, only the Bloc Quebecois appears to be heeding the softwood producers in Quebec and their provincial government.

The Liberals didn’t “decide” they would vote against the softwood deal until they were assured that the Bloc would support it, thereby avoiding an election the Liberals know they can’t win. Whoever ends up winning the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada in December owes Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe a generous Christmas present.

Our Conservative government sealed this deal just seven months after taking office. Since the collapse of the previous Canada–U.S. Softwood agreement in 2001, the former Liberal government first ignored the plight of the softwood industry, then dithered on the file, then focussed on lobbing cheap anti-American insults across the border rather than working in the best interests of Canadian mill owners and workers.

By the time voters booted them out of office in January, the federal Liberals still had no deal and were only asking the U.S. to return $3.5-billion to Canadian softwood producers.

Not surprisingly, NDP leader Jack Layton opposes the deal. Then again, this is the party that has some members who compare our Canadian troops to terrorists. The NDP’s solution to the softwood dispute is an all-out trade war with the U.S. That would leave Canadian producers with no access to U.S. customers and they would never see their tariff money returned to them.

Truly, the only ‘winners’ if this deal were to be defeated in the House of Commons would be the lawyers and lobbyists hired by big U.S. lumber companies to prolong the lumber war.

The Canadian softwood industry has incurred enough costly litigation and lost U.S. sales. Now that they can put those troubles behind them, many mills are already turning their focus towards strengthening their presence in the U.S. market. Thanks to this deal, Canada’s softwood lumber industry faces several years of renewed optimism.

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