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OTTAWA - (Web posted April 8, 2002 @ 5 p.m.)
- If Ottawa plans to help
Canadian lumber companies and workers devastated by the softwood lumber dispute
with the U.S., the feds are keeping the details to themselves.
On Monday, however Natural Resources
Minister Herb Dhaliwal mentioned that the government is looking at ways too
help.
 "This is a priority for the Government
of Canada and many departments are looking at this issue, including my
own," he said.
In March
the U.S. Department of Commerce slapped Canadian softwood lumber imports with a
29 per cent tariff after negotiators from both companies failed to reach a trade
deal. It's estimated that tens of
thousands of workers across Canada have lost their job because of the dispute. Last year the U.S.
administration slapped heavy tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber products, after
the American lumber lobby argued Canada subsidizes its industry and dumps the
products south of the border at below market value. During
Monday's Question Period, Opposition MPs peppered International Trade Minister
Pierre Pettigrew with questions about Ottawa's efforts to help sustain the
industry.
"We
have a large number of programs throughout government, whether they be in the
Department of Industry, the Department of Human Resources Development, or the
Department of Natural Resources," said Pettigrew.
"Right
now, we are obviously engaged in considering these various Government of Canada
programs."
Canada is
appealing the U.S. decision to international trade panels under the North
American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization.
But
the final ruling from those panels could take months, and Dhaliwal acknowledged the industry will need help. "We
have to make sure that this illegal and unfair duty, put on by the Americans,
doesn't destroy our industry," he said. "We have to make sure that
when we get a final hearing at the WTO, industry is there." British
Columbia produces the majority of U.S.-bound softwood lumber exports in Canada,
and Premier Gord Campbell has called on Ottawa to develop and implement measures
such as skills training and employment insurance reform to help softwood lumber
industry workers cope. The federal
government, however, must be careful about the type of aid it gives the industry,
because the WTO and NAFTA may view such measures as a subsidy. That
would subsequently hurt Canada's case at the trade bodies. "He's
in a difficult position," conceded Tory MP Bill Casey in reference to
Pierre Pettigrew. "The
government has to try and devise an plan that will not set a precedent for other
industries, while not furthering the subsidization claims."
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