Ottawa, ON – Richard Martel, Conservative MP for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord; Tamara Kronis, Conservative MP for Nanaimo—Ladysmith; and Jeff Kibble, Conservative MP for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford released the following statement:
“In nine months, Mark Carney, the self-proclaimed ‘master negotiator’ has failed to lower U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood. His failure to get a deal has forced Canadians to choose between heating and eating this holiday season as they continue to struggle with the Liberals’ cost of living crisis, now without a job.
“When asked about the state of trade talks with the Americans, Mark Carney said who cares’ and that he had ‘nothing burning’ to talk to the Americans about. Well Conservatives care and so do the thousands of lumber workers and their families who are suffering because of Carney’s failures. Countries around the world have been able to land trade deals with the Americans so Carney’s costly failure on this front is in fact a burning issue.
“Today the Liberals had another chance to provide Canadians with a substantive update on softwood lumber trade talks with the Americans. Instead, Minister of Natural Resources Tim Hodgson’s ground-breaking announcement was on the building of a website and a ‘Transformation Task Force’ to provide recommendations in 90 days. That’s right, a website, and some suggestions to come a year after Mark Carney took office.
“This is despite dozens of lumber mills shutting down across the country, leaving thousands of Canadian lumberjacks and mill workers without jobs and costing billions of dollars in damage to each region that loses these cornerstone industries.
“In contrast, under the previous Conservative government, Prime Minister Harper managed to land a trade deal on softwood lumber within his first 79 days in office. But after 10 Liberal years, there has been no deal, no jobs and tariffs have tripled to 45 per cent under Mark Carney.
“Canada has the best lumber workers in the world but they don’t want handouts, they want their jobs back and a deal that will provide them the stability to grow, to attract investors and to provide security for the many families and communities that depend on the sector.
“Only a Conservative government under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre will negotiate a deal with the Americans from a position of strength and bring our jobs home so our lumber workers can have an affordable life, on a safe street under our proud flag.”