Minister Freeland has failed to negotiate a softwood lumber deal for Canadians: Conservative MPs

September 16, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA, ON – Conservative Opposition Critics of Parliament Randy Hoback and Todd Doherty issued the following statement today on the state of current softwood lumber negotiations between Canada and the United States.

“Canada is on the brink of a softwood lumber war with the United States and there is no deal in sight,” said Randy Hoback, Official Opposition Critic for Canada-US relations.  “After almost a year in office, this Minister has failed to negotiate a deal for Canada’s forestry sector and the near 400,0000 workers and their families that rely on it. Saying that it’s a tough deal to negotiate is a poor excuse for failing to get it done, especially after raising expectations during the Prime Minister’s trip to Washington in February.”

“It’s taken the Minister nearly a year to realise that trade agreements don’t magically negotiate themselves. In fact, it would seem that from the start, the Liberal Government put one of the most important trade negotiations in Canadian history on the backburner as it was excluded from the Minister’s mandate letter. Forestry families who are struggling to put food on the table deserve to know why the softwood lumber file failed to rank as a top priority for the Minister,” said Todd Doherty, Member of Parliament for Cariboo Prince George.

The last softwood lumber dispute cost the Canadian forestry sector $5.3 billion and affected each region of the country.