 OTTAWA
- (Web posted Feb. 19, 2002 @ 6:20 p.m.) As Canadian and American negotiators
met in Ottawa on Tuesday to try and resolve the softwood lumber dispute, Bev
Desjarlais, an NDP MP from Manitoba, called
on the government to help the industry and its workers.
"The federal government has got to put
in place a program that will actually support the workers and the
industry," said Desjarlais, the member of Parliament for Churchill,
Manitoba, after Tuesday's Question Period.
Tens of thousands of Canadians have reportedly been laid off, mostly in B.C.,
since the Americans implemented heavy duties on Canada's softwood exports.
Len Edwards, deputy minister of
International Trade, said the Americans and Canadians tabled several proposals
that should lay the foundation for continued discussion on Tuesday.
He said, for instance, the Americans wanted to ensure that Canadian lumber
prices were market oriented, and that Canada insisted on improved access to U.S.
consumers. Despite the pleasant picture Edwards painted of the talks, he
admitted negotiators are nowhere near reaching a deal.
"I still think we have a lot of work to
do," said Edwards, who added there are no guarantees a deal can be reached
before March 21, the date when the Americans are expected to make a final ruling
on what the duties will be.
Edwards, however, said legal avenues are
open to the Canadians to circumvent that deadline.
Both sides are not expected to resume talks
for at least a week, and Desjarlais said the government should develop and
implement some policies to help the effected workers and industries.
 She
supported the idea of placing a temporary tax on softwood exports to the U.S.
market, and that the government should establish a national housing strategy
that would utilize the excess lumber.
"It's not going to solve the whole
problem," admitted Desjarlais, "but it could get us through this short
term.
Canadian Alliance interim leader John
Reynolds said the softwood lumber dispute should be solved now, and he called it
"scandalous" that Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Trade Minister
Pierre Pettigrew were in Europe as trade negotiations resumed.
"They should be here," Reynolds
said. "Canada is a free trading partner and ally of the U.S. but we're not
being treated like it in this softwood lumber dispute. 'If I was Prime Minister of Canada...I'd be in Washington solving this problem."
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